Blair William & Co. IL Reduces Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL cut its Zoetis stake by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 393,192 shares and leaving it with 969,963 shares valued at about $122 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 92.8% of Zoetis stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, and several firms recently increased their positions.
• Zoetis is facing mixed fundamentals and sentiment: it missed recent EPS and revenue estimates, several law firms are promoting securities class-action claims, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 969,963 shares of the company's stock after selling 393,192 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.23% of Zoetis worth $122,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Seilern Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Zoetis by 361.2% in the fourth quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd now owns 333,465 shares of the company's stock worth $41,957,000 after buying an additional 261,155 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Zoetis by 134.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,631,619 shares of the company's stock worth $205,290,000 after buying an additional 935,432 shares in the last quarter. Pincus Capital Management LP bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $2,109,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,531 shares of the company's stock worth $18,185,000 after buying an additional 60,167 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Zoetis

Here are the key news stories impacting Zoetis this week:

• Negative Sentiment: The flood of class-action reminders highlights alleged investor harm and creates another headline risk for Zoetis, which can weigh on sentiment while litigation moves forward. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms allege securities-law violations tied to the same class period, reinforcing uncertainty around prior disclosures and potentially keeping pressure on the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings backdrop remains a separate concern: Zoetis previously missed both EPS and revenue estimates, which may continue to influence investor caution.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, Director Paul Bisaro bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.88 per share, with a total value of $151,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 27,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,114,168.56. This trade represents a 7.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frank A. Damelio bought 6,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $75.39 per share, with a total value of $501,343.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 21,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,617,718.62. This represents a 44.91% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 11,650 shares of company stock valued at $886,384. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $79.28 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.38 and a fifty-two week high of $164.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.49. The company has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.15.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.07). Zoetis had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 66.85%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.850-7.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Zoetis from $130.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.92.

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.

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