Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 24,472 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 4.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 527,859 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,472 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $37,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ZTS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 180.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co boosted its position in Zoetis by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 4,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE:ZTS opened at $73.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.01. The stock has a market cap of $30.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.74. Zoetis Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.45 and a twelve month high of $160.48.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 74.89%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ZTS. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $146.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Zoetis from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 price target on Zoetis in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Zoetis from $112.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.62.

About Zoetis

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.