Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Stock Rating Raised to "Hold" at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs upgraded Zoetis to “Hold,” aligning with the broader analyst consensus. Seven analysts rate the stock a Buy, 10 a Hold and two a Sell, with an average price target of $99.14.
• Zoetis shares traded at $79.31, near the lower end of their 12-month range of $68.77 to $148.30. Recent analyst price-target reductions include targets from UBS, Piper Sandler, TD Cowen and BNP Paribas Exane.
• The company slightly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.87 versus $1.85 expected, while revenue of $2.47 billion fell short of the $2.50 billion consensus and declined 0.2% year over year.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Friday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on ZTS. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $94.00 price objective on Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $104.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $146.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. 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 report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.14.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.31. 5,570,530 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,418,894. The stock has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $74.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.49. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. Zoetis has a 12-month low of $68.77 and a 12-month high of $148.30.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 74.89% and a net margin of 27.49%. The company's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zoetis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZTS. Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the second quarter valued at about $302,601,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 39,430,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,833,453,000 after acquiring an additional 3,845,869 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at about $286,660,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Zoetis by 340.0% in the 1st quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,200,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,062,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carmignac Gestion acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $113,230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other products for pets and livestock. Its portfolio is designed to help prevent and treat disease, improve animal health and support veterinary care.

The company serves the companion animal market with products for dogs, cats and other pets, including parasiticides, vaccines, dermatology treatments and pain-management therapies. Zoetis also provides animal health products for cattle, swine, poultry, fish and other livestock, along with diagnostic instruments, tests and services used by veterinarians and producers.

Zoetis was established as an independent public company in 2013 after being separated from Pfizer, which had operated the business as Pfizer Animal Health.

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