Park Avenue Securities LLC Decreases Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 23.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,582 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis by 54.0% in the second quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 54.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 859.0% in the second quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 13,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 11,975 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the 1st quarter worth $22,891,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 67.0% in the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ZTS opened at $127.10 on Friday. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.25 and a fifty-two week high of $177.40. The company has a market capitalization of $56.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $123.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 3.64.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.21% and a return on equity of 57.19%. The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ZTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Zoetis in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Zoetis from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 target price on the stock. HSBC set a $140.00 price target on Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, December 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.18.

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.