Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $215.90.

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Zoetis from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $163.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $166.40 and a 200-day moving average of $174.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Zoetis has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. As a group, analysts forecast that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total transaction of $201,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,244.30. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 2.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,862 shares of company stock worth $312,254. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $196,651,000. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $178,688,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.