HighTower Advisors LLC Has $18.21 Million Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Zoetis stake by 39.7% in the second quarter, selling 166,492 shares and retaining 253,412 shares valued at approximately $18.21 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with Zoetis carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $109.62; ratings include eight Buys, nine Holds, and two Sells.
• Zoetis slightly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $1.87, while revenue fell 0.2% year over year to $2.47 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, representing a 2.9% annualized yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 39.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,412 shares of the company's stock after selling 166,492 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Zoetis worth $18,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter valued at $2,542,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,558,183 shares of the company's stock worth $699,331,000 after purchasing an additional 891,921 shares during the last quarter. Pincus Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth about $2,109,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,004,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 165,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,572,000 after purchasing an additional 23,687 shares during the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Zoetis from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Zoetis from $146.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Zoetis in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.62.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $73.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $30.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.01. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.45 and a fifty-two week high of $160.48.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 74.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Zoetis's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Zoetis's payout ratio is presently 34.93%.

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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