Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $160.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $165.00.

ZTS has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.13.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $157.26 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.40. Zoetis has a fifty-two week low of $139.70 and a fifty-two week high of $200.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Zoetis will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth $824,321,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter worth $616,375,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis during the first quarter worth $339,111,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 4,158.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,824,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

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.