Zoetis Inc. $ZTS Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Verdence Capital Advisors cut its Zoetis stake by 70.7% in Q4, selling 8,705 shares and retaining 3,608 shares worth about $454,000.
• Other institutions added to positions—most notably Vanguard bought 5,474,210 shares to hold 47,780,974 shares (≈$6.01B)—leaving institutional ownership at 92.8%.
• Zoetis beat Q4 expectations (EPS $1.48 vs. $1.40; revenue $2.39B vs. $2.36B), set FY2026 guidance of 7.00–7.10 EPS, and carries an analyst consensus of "Hold" with an average target of $151.75.

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) by 70.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,608 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,705 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Zoetis were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,011,802,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,210 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Zoetis by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $622,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179,578 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,312,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,046,000 after purchasing an additional 550,859 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Zoetis by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,241,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $620,595,000 after purchasing an additional 496,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fundsmith LLP grew its holdings in Zoetis by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,615,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,966,000 after purchasing an additional 730,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $136.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.75.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS stock opened at $116.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Zoetis Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.29 and a 1-year high of $172.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $120.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.93.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.24% and a return on equity of 62.02%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.22%.

Zoetis Profile

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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