Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 893,168 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP sold 893,168 shares of Zoetis Inc., reducing its stake by 12.8%, and the firm now holds approximately 6.07 million shares valued at about $998.7 million.
• Several analysts have downgraded Zoetis' stock rating recently, with Leerink Partners and Stifel Nicolaus both adjusting their price targets downwards, reflecting a shift in market sentiment.
• Zoetis declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, which will be paid in September, representing an annual yield of approximately 1.3% based on the current stock price.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,065,375 shares of the company's stock after selling 893,168 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.36% of Zoetis worth $998,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 100.3% during the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 395,626 shares of the company's stock worth $65,140,000 after acquiring an additional 198,089 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Zoetis Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:ZTS traded down $1.2650 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $155.4950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,411,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,540,633. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The business's 50-day moving average is $154.00 and its 200-day moving average is $158.75. The company has a market cap of $68.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.88.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.