Merit Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,439 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Martin Capital Advisors LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 1,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,185,000 after acquiring an additional 60,167 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Zoetis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 88,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,140,000 after acquiring an additional 8,689 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394 shares during the period. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 14,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 4,596 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $136.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.25.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of ZTS opened at $117.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.80. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.29 and a twelve month high of $172.23. The stock has a market cap of $49.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 62.02% and a net margin of 28.24%.The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s 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 analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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