Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $212.75.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Zoetis from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $163.03 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.22. Zoetis has a 1 year low of $139.70 and a 1 year high of $200.33. The company has a market capitalization of $72.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 53.82% and a net margin of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, Director Willie M. Reed sold 1,210 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.14, for a total value of $201,029.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,244.30. The trade was a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $55,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,682,770. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Zoetis by 10.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,916,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,834,000 after acquiring an additional 279,092 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,502 shares of the company's stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,534 shares of the company's stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Company 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.

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