Community Trust & Investment Co. Boosts Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,408 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,014 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $17,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $6,532,276,000 after purchasing an additional 330,823 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 95,294 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zoetis in the second quarter worth about $809,491,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 250,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,252,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,207,000 after buying an additional 174,119 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.8%

Zoetis stock opened at $129.41 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $115.25 and a one year high of $177.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.66 and a 200 day moving average of $141.33. 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 stock has a market cap of $57.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This is a boost from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $158.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 15th. HSBC set a $140.00 target price on Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.18.

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.