NFJ Investment Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 68%, selling 123,568 shares and leaving it with 58,167 shares valued at approximately $9.58 million.
• Zoetis reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates of $1.62, with quarterly revenue of $2.46 billion, a 4.2% increase year-over-year.
• Brokerages have mixed ratings on Zoetis, with some lowering price targets, while others, like Piper Sandler, raised their price target from $210.00 to $215.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating.

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 68.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,167 shares of the company's stock after selling 123,568 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $9,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 180.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $308,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth $1,086,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Zoetis by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 109,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,834,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $475,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners downgraded Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.43.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.15. 1,895,936 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,296,223. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.70 and a 12 month high of $200.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $153.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Zoetis Company 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.