Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Zoetis Inc. by 2.2% in the first quarter, owning approximately 5.15 million shares valued at $847.29 million.
• Zoetis reported a quarterly EPS of $1.76, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a net margin of 27.83% and revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, set to be paid on September 3rd, with an annual yield of 1.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 35.91%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,146,024 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,791 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.15% of Zoetis worth $847,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Zoetis by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,426,394 shares of the company's stock worth $1,047,052,000 after acquiring an additional 755,893 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $782,064,000 after buying an additional 325,000 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,408,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $725,866,000 after buying an additional 312,746 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,078,578 shares of the company's stock worth $664,523,000 after buying an additional 182,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,437,895 shares of the company's stock worth $560,137,000 after acquiring an additional 363,843 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs cut Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Zoetis Stock Performance

ZTS traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.34. 2,062,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,804,772. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $156.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.88. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year 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 earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is 34.42%.

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.