Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Acquired by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. by 7.9%, holding over 1 million shares, which constitute 4.0% of its investment portfolio.
• Multiple investors have recently raised their positions in Zoetis, with notable increases of 54.3% and even 859.0% by Sound Income Strategies LLC and Canoe Financial LP, respectively.
• Zoetis plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.50 on December 2nd, representing an annualized yield of 1.4% with a payout ratio of 34.42%.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,038,636 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 76,142 shares during the period. Zoetis accounts for 4.0% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned about 0.23% of Zoetis worth $161,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 54.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 432 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in Zoetis by 859.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 13,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 11,975 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at $22,891,000. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Zoetis by 100.3% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 395,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,140,000 after purchasing an additional 198,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 17,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 4,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ZTS shares. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Argus restated a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded 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 research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $195.00.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $146.38 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $64.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.34 and a 52-week high of $188.25.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ZTS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.