Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Stock: Markel Group Inc. Raises Holdings

Markel Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 542.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 425,296 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359,101 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $29,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 80.2% during the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 76,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,469,000 after purchasing an additional 33,873 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 165,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,572,000 after purchasing an additional 23,687 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor boosted its stake in Zoetis by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor now owns 3,557,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,637,000 after purchasing an additional 629,974 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Zoetis by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,004,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,126,000 after purchasing an additional 269,610 shares during the period. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich boosted its stake in Zoetis by 2,448.6% in the 1st quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 23,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 22,870 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ZTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 20th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Zoetis from $146.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Zoetis from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Friday, October 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Finally, BTIG Research dropped coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Friday, October 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.79.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $83.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.27 and a 200-day moving average of $93.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.77 and a 12 month high of $132.49.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 74.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.93%.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, genetic products and related services for animals. Its offerings support the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease in both companion animals, including dogs, cats and horses, and livestock such as cattle, swine, poultry and fish.

The company’s product portfolio includes prescription medicines, parasiticides, vaccines, veterinary diagnostics and animal genetics.