Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $195.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $220.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Zoetis from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Zoetis from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $221.75.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $153.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $69.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $178.25 and its 200 day moving average is $180.59. Zoetis has a twelve month low of $148.48 and a twelve month high of $201.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Zoetis will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $0.432 dividend. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is 33.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total value of $71,779.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,037,257.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $408,453. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,334,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,960,912,000 after buying an additional 536,477 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Zoetis by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,262,000 after buying an additional 3,244,074 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 2.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,344,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,147,730,000 after purchasing an additional 297,044 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,872,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,593,395,000 after purchasing an additional 2,796,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,464,000 after purchasing an additional 27,097 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.