Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $152.9091.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $136.00 price target on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Zoetis to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Zoetis by 4.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 251,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,745,000 after buying an additional 10,434 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Zoetis by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,222,000 after buying an additional 2,179,578 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Zoetis by 6.5% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 295,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,235,000 after buying an additional 18,040 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,119,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,751,000 after purchasing an additional 183,686 shares during the period. Finally, Quilter Plc boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 438,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,228,000 after purchasing an additional 40,615 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $119.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.03. Zoetis has a 1 year low of $113.29 and a 1 year high of $172.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.49.

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

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.22%.

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.