Baillie Gifford & Co. Purchases New Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. opened a new Q4 position in Zoetis of 150,845 shares (~$18.98M), and institutional investors now own about 92.8% of the company as several large funds materially increased stakes.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — six Buys, seven Holds and one Sell — leaving an average rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $152.91, amid notable upgrades (Goldman Sachs, Wall Street Zen) and downgrades (Weiss).
• Zoetis recently beat quarterly EPS ($1.48 vs. $1.40), set FY2026 guidance of $7.00–$7.10 EPS, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 (annualized $2.12, ~1.8% yield).

Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 150,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,979,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $394,010,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Zoetis by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company's stock worth $622,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179,578 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Zoetis by 83.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,697,827 shares of the company's stock worth $394,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,085 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 85.9% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,578,593 shares of the company's stock worth $400,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,840 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Zoetis by 342.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,485,459 shares of the company's stock worth $217,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ZTS shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Zoetis to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Zoetis from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.91.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $120.08 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.29 and a 12 month high of $172.23. The firm has a market cap of $50.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.12 and a 200-day moving average of $126.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 62.02% and a net margin of 28.24%.The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

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

Zoetis Company 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.

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