Groupe la Francaise Purchases 10,947 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise significantly increased its stake in Zoetis Inc., acquiring an additional 10,947 shares, which raised its ownership by 131.6% during the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have downgraded Zoetis' stock rating recently, with price targets being adjusted downwards by several firms, reflecting cautious sentiment in the market.
• Zoetis reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.76, surpassing expectations, and recorded a revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, marking a year-over-year increase of 4.2%.

Groupe la Francaise raised its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 131.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,268 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,947 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 481,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,277,000 after acquiring an additional 16,119 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $646,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 13,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 4,738 shares in the last quarter. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. boosted its position in Zoetis by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Zoetis stock opened at $156.3180 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $69.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's 50 day moving average is $153.84 and its 200 day moving average is $158.52. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.70 and a twelve month high of $200.33.

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

Zoetis Profile

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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