Covea Finance Sells 22,300 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Covea Finance decreased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,300 shares during the quarter. Zoetis makes up approximately 1.3% of Covea Finance’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Covea Finance owned about 0.06% of Zoetis worth $38,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 201.5% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 208 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.18.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $125.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.41. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.25 and a 52-week high of $177.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 3.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.97.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.67%.

Zoetis Profile

Zoetis Inc (NYSE: ZTS) is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products and services for companion animals and livestock. The company’s offerings include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, parasiticides and anti-infectives, as well as diagnostic instruments, consumables and laboratory testing services. Zoetis serves the veterinary community, livestock producers and other animal-health customers with products designed to prevent, detect and treat disease and to support animal productivity and welfare.

Zoetis traces its roots to the animal health business of Pfizer and became an independent, publicly traded company following a 2013 separation and initial public offering.