Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 23.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,582 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,886,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,532,276,000 after buying an additional 330,823 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 0.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,081,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,356,000 after acquiring an additional 95,294 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the second quarter worth $809,491,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Zoetis by 5.7% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,659,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,629,000 after purchasing an additional 250,829 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 113.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,761,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,491 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Barclays began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.18.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $127.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.97. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.25 and a 1 year high of $177.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 3.64 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.60.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

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

About Zoetis

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.