Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Trims Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 51.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,131 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 12,431.2% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 24,069,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,028,423,000 after acquiring an additional 23,877,416 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $734,425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Zoetis by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,011,802,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,210 shares during the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the first quarter valued at approximately $286,660,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Zoetis by 269.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,387,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740,113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $72.53 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $71.47 and a one year high of $160.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.74.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 70.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.250 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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

Zoetis News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Zoetis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zoetis reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.87 per share, above the $1.84–$1.85 analyst consensus and up from $1.76 a year earlier. The earnings beat provides some support for the stock. Zoetis Surpasses Q2 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target from $130 to $115 but maintained an Overweight rating, implying substantial potential upside from recent levels. The target reduction reflects more conservative estimates rather than a bearish long-term view.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zoetis appointed James “Jay” Saccaro as executive vice president and chief financial officer, with the announcement also describing an expanded finance and operating leadership role. The change may improve execution, but its near-term effect on results is unclear. Zoetis Appoints Jay Saccaro
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue was $2.47 billion, below the $2.50 billion consensus and essentially flat year over year. Management cited weaker veterinary traffic, customer price sensitivity and competitive pressure in companion-animal products, with promotions being used to defend market share. ZTS Q2 Earnings Call Flags Deeper Companion Animal Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Zoetis cut fiscal 2026 guidance to adjusted EPS of $6.15–$6.25 from expectations near $6.87, and revenue guidance to $9.1–$9.3 billion versus consensus of roughly $9.8 billion. The outlook reduction is the primary reason the stock has declined despite the quarterly earnings beat. Zoetis Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss, 2026 View Cut

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ZTS shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $150.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $140.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Zoetis from $145.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, Director Frank A. Damelio purchased 6,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $501,343.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,617,718.62. This represents a 44.91% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael B. Mccallister acquired 3,000 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.76 per share, for a total transaction of $233,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 24,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,906,986.24. The trade was a 13.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 11,650 shares of company stock valued at $886,384 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.