BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 73.6% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 223,295 shares to own a total of 526,492 shares worth $86.68 million.
• Zoetis reported quarterly earnings of $1.76 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $2.46 billion, a 4.2% increase compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for July 18th.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 73.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 526,492 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 223,295 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.12% of Zoetis worth $86,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,556,164 shares of the company's stock worth $6,842,222,000 after purchasing an additional 189,287 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 17.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.2% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,504,902 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,071,032,000 after buying an additional 78,508 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,146,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $847,293,000 after purchasing an additional 109,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unisphere Establishment increased its position in Zoetis by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,800,000 shares of the company's stock worth $782,064,000 after purchasing an additional 325,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE ZTS traded down $1.2650 during trading on Thursday, hitting $155.4950. 2,411,616 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,106,003. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.86. The firm has a market cap of $68.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.88. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.70 and a 12-month high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share 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 business 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 firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business'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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners lowered Zoetis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.43.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,571,930. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.