Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 109.9%, owning a total of 616,381 shares worth approximately $100.6 million as per its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have lowered their ratings for Zoetis, with Leerink Partners and Stifel Nicolaus downgrading their views from "strong-buy" to "hold" and reducing price targets.
• Zoetis reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.76, exceeding consensus estimates, and indicated anticipated EPS of between 6.300-6.400 for FY 2025.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 109.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 616,381 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 322,723 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Zoetis worth $100,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 79.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 87.6% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 257 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:ZTS traded down $1.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $151.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,312,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,296,223. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.70 and a 1-year high of $200.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.73. The company has a market cap of $67.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, 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 the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ZTS shares. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.43.

Zoetis 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.