Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Holdings Cut by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its Zoetis stake by 12.9% in the first quarter, selling 67,878 shares and leaving it with 458,854 shares valued at about $54.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment has turned more cautious, with several analysts cutting price targets; Zoetis now carries a consensus Hold rating and an average target price of $123.46.
• Zoetis missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.53 EPS versus $1.60 expected, while also facing a recently filed class action lawsuit tied to alleged misstatements or omissions.

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458,854 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,878 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.11% of Zoetis worth $54,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ZTS. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 12,431.2% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 24,069,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,028,423,000 after buying an additional 23,877,416 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $734,425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company's stock worth $6,011,802,000 after buying an additional 5,474,210 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company's stock worth $622,222,000 after buying an additional 2,179,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 269.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,387,059 shares of the company's stock worth $300,340,000 after buying an additional 1,740,113 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Zoetis from $130.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Zoetis from $136.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Zoetis from $150.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Zoetis from $190.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.46.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $75.49 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $79.96 and its 200-day moving average is $107.76. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.47 and a 52-week high of $160.48. 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 company has a market cap of $31.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.75.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.07). Zoetis had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 66.85%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.850-7.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.8%. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, Director Paul Bisaro bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.88 per share, for a total transaction of $151,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 27,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,114,168.56. This trade represents a 7.73% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael B. Mccallister purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.76 per share, for a total transaction of $233,280.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 24,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,906,986.24. This represents a 13.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 11,650 shares of company stock worth $886,384. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Zoetis News

Here are the key news stories impacting Zoetis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: No clearly positive company-specific catalysts were reported in the latest batch of articles.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple law firms, including Rosen, Glancy Prongay, Bragar Eagel & Squire, The Gross Law Firm, Kessler Topaz, Schall, Howard G. Smith, and Bernstein Liebhard, are urging investors who bought ZTS shares during the class period to contact them before the July 27 lead plaintiff deadline.
• Negative Sentiment: A class action lawsuit has been filed against Zoetis and certain officers, with allegations of material misstatements and/or omissions tied to product adoption, which may increase legal costs and pressure the stock. Article Title

About Zoetis

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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