Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Trading Down 0.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) traded down 0.5% during trading on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $223.00 to $196.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zoetis traded as low as $165.26 and last traded at $166.23. 663,632 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,148,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.07.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ZTS. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total value of $71,779.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,037,257.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. increased its stake in Zoetis by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 874,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,025,000 after purchasing an additional 296,782 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 7,854 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in Zoetis by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 5,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 4,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $76.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $167.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.93.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.34% and a net margin of 27.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.