Chicago Capital LLC Sells 226,129 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Chicago Capital LLC reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 92.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock after selling 226,129 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the second quarter worth $809,491,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 113.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,995,491 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 85.9% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,578,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,840 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 362.6% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,176,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,705,000 after purchasing an additional 922,589 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 60.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,436,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,565,000 after purchasing an additional 917,598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $129.41 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.33. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.25 and a 12 month high of $177.40.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Zoetis to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price target on Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.18.

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.