Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,693 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,279 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $7,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the second quarter worth about $809,491,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Zoetis by 113.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,761,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,671,000 after buying an additional 1,995,491 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Zoetis by 85.9% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,578,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,619,000 after buying an additional 1,191,840 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 362.6% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,176,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,705,000 after buying an additional 922,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Zoetis by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,436,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,565,000 after buying an additional 917,598 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC set a $140.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Zoetis to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Six investment 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.18.

Zoetis Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $127.10 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $123.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 3.64 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The company has a market capitalization of $56.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.97. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.25 and a 1 year high of $177.40.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.67%.

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.