KBC Group NV Boosts Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 361,278 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,375 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $25,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at $2,542,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Zoetis by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,558,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,331,000 after acquiring an additional 891,921 shares during the period. Pincus Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,109,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $7,004,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Zoetis by 16.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 165,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,572,000 after purchasing an additional 23,687 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 target price on Zoetis in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Zoetis from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Zoetis from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.62.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $73.64 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.45 and a 1 year high of $160.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.01.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 74.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.250 EPS. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is presently 34.93%.

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.