First Merchants Corp Has $1.98 Million Holdings in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp cut its stake in Zoetis by 42% in Q4, selling 11,387 shares and ending with 15,707 shares worth about $1.98 million.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $152.91, while several firms (BTIG, Morgan Stanley) target up to $160 and Goldman Sachs has upgraded to a "Buy."
• Zoetis beat Q4 estimates (EPS $1.48 vs. $1.40; revenue $2.39B vs. $2.36B), issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 7.00–7.10, and announced a $0.53 quarterly dividend (≈1.8% yield).

First Merchants Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 42.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,707 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,387 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Zoetis by 4.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 251,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,745,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 295,482 shares of the company's stock worth $43,235,000 after purchasing an additional 18,040 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,119,132 shares of the company's stock worth $163,751,000 after purchasing an additional 183,686 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 438,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,228,000 after buying an additional 40,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,436,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,565,000 after buying an additional 917,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ZTS. Bank of America increased their price objective on Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Zoetis to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. HSBC set a $140.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.91.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $116.65 on Thursday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $123.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.03. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.30 and a 52 week high of $172.23. The firm has a market cap of $49.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

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