Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 71,780 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 411,335 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 71,780 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Zoetis worth $60,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 4.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 251,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,745,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in Zoetis by 6.5% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 295,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,235,000 after purchasing an additional 18,040 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Zoetis by 19.6% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,119,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,751,000 after buying an additional 183,686 shares during the period. Quilter Plc boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.2% during the third quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 438,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,228,000 after buying an additional 40,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 60.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,436,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,565,000 after buying an additional 917,598 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $120.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.39. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.25 and a 1 year high of $172.23.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Zoetis’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 35.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ZTS. Barclays initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price target for the company. HSBC set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.91.

About Zoetis

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.