Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $152.9091.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $136.00 target price on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS opened at $125.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.79 and its 200 day moving average is $135.06. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. The company has a market cap of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Zoetis has a 12-month low of $115.25 and a 12-month high of $177.00.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.24% and a return on equity of 62.02%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 12,431.2% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 24,069,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,028,423,000 after purchasing an additional 23,877,416 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $734,425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,011,802,000 after buying an additional 5,474,210 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter worth $394,010,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

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.