Stephens Inc. AR Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR has increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 16.7% during the second quarter, now owning 129,045 shares valued at approximately $20.1 million.
• Zoetis recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, set to be paid on December 2nd, with an ex-dividend date of October 31st.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Zoetis, with a consensus price target of $196.71, and both upward and downward revisions from several research firms.

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,045 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,483 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Zoetis were worth $20,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the first quarter worth about $616,375,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company's stock worth $300,481,000 after buying an additional 1,782,110 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 17.6% in the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,796,847 shares of the company's stock worth $1,448,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,653 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,595,628 shares of the company's stock worth $575,691,000 after acquiring an additional 846,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 475.9% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 900,261 shares of the company's stock worth $148,228,000 after acquiring an additional 743,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ZTS. Leerink Partners cut Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note 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. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $196.71.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $144.15 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $148.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.65. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.34 and a 52-week high of $193.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Zoetis had a return on equity of 56.90% and a net margin of 27.83%.The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Zoetis's dividend 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.

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