Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Short Interest Up 20.5% in January

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,580,000 shares, an increase of 20.5% from the January 15th total of 7,120,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.90.

Zoetis Price Performance

NYSE ZTS traded down $7.40 on Monday, reaching $157.54. 7,656,606 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,578,743. Zoetis has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The company has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zoetis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,764,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,834,000 after purchasing an additional 279,092 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the third quarter worth approximately $11,684,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Zoetis by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,266,000 after buying an additional 572,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Company Profile

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.