Piper Sandler Reiterates Overweight Rating for Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS)

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $195.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $220.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ZTS. Barclays upped their price target on Zoetis from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Zoetis from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Zoetis from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $221.75.

Zoetis Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ZTS stock traded up $3.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $153.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,967,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,959,312. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.85. Zoetis has a one year low of $148.48 and a one year high of $201.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $178.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.59. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.19 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.25% and a net margin of 27.43%. Zoetis's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Zoetis will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.432 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Zoetis's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.43, for a total transaction of $176,689.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,363,233.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $408,453 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 7.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 93,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,457 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,776,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 1.9% in the third quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 60,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 183,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,230,000 after acquiring an additional 17,976 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.