Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 402.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,608 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,699 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 330,823 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,081,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,356,000 after purchasing an additional 95,294 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Zoetis during the second quarter worth $809,491,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 5.7% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,659,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,629,000 after purchasing an additional 250,829 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Zoetis by 113.0% during the second 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 owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC set a $140.00 price target on Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.45.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS opened at $124.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $124.08 and its 200-day moving average is $137.26. The stock has a market cap of $54.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.25 and a twelve month high of $177.40.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 57.19% and a net margin of 28.21%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 35.69%.

Zoetis Company 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.