Erste Asset Management GmbH Trims Holdings in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Erste Asset Management GmbH decreased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 46.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,232 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $10,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1ST Source Bank raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 19.3% during the third quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 7,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 136.9% in the third quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 268,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,243,000 after acquiring an additional 155,000 shares in the last quarter. Hikari Tsushin Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hikari Tsushin Inc. now owns 41,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,071,000 after purchasing an additional 33,950 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Zoetis by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,004,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,936,000 after purchasing an additional 260,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 3,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:ZTS opened at $131.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $126.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.15. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.25 and a 52 week high of $177.00.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business 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 firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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 research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ZTS. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $136.00 target price on Zoetis in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price target on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.91.

Zoetis 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.