Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $215.90.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of ZTS opened at $163.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Zoetis has a 1 year low of $144.80 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.55.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 36.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after acquiring an additional 95,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,726,075,000 after purchasing an additional 190,137 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

About Zoetis

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.