Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 1.4%, owning approximately 468,196 shares valued at $77 million as of the end of the latest quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds significantly boosted their positions in Zoetis during the 1st quarter, with increases ranging from 79.3% to 614.6%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Zoetis, with ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold" and a consensus target price of $202.43, despite recent downgrades from some firms.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 468,196 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,559 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Zoetis worth $77,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 79.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 87.6% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of Zoetis by 614.6% in the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 293 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners cut shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ZTS opened at $156.45 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.91. The stock has a market cap of $69.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

About Zoetis

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.

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