Legal & General Group Plc Has $447.23 Million Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its Zoetis stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 3.55 million shares valued at about $447.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted holdings, and institutions now own 92.8% of Zoetis stock, signaling strong professional ownership interest.
• Zoetis reported mixed quarterly results, with EPS and revenue both missing estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with an average price target of $133.92.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,554,498 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 138,654 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.81% of Zoetis worth $447,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,011,802,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,210 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $394,010,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $622,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179,578 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 256.7% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,168,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 83.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,697,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $394,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,085 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other news, Director Michael B. Mccallister acquired 3,000 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.76 per share, for a total transaction of $233,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,906,986.24. The trade was a 13.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Bisaro acquired 2,000 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $75.88 per share, with a total value of $151,760.00. Following the acquisition, 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 11,650 shares of company stock worth $886,384 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $145.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Zoetis from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a report on Friday, May 15th. Leerink Partners restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.92.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.1%

Zoetis stock opened at $81.26 on Tuesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.38 and a 52 week high of $172.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.17.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.07). Zoetis had a return on equity of 66.85% and a net margin of 27.80%.The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The company'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 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued 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 yield of 2.6%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.16%.

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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