Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 5.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 124,617 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,449 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $18,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 2nd quarter valued at $809,491,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 113.0% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,761,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,491 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,191,840 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Zoetis by 362.6% during the 2nd 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 grew its position in Zoetis by 60.4% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $124.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $123.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.62. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.25 and a 1 year high of $177.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 3.64 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 33.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ZTS. HSBC set a $140.00 price objective on Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price target on Zoetis in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.