Scharf Investments LLC Grows Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Scharf Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 818,875 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 324,659 shares during the period. Zoetis comprises approximately 2.8% of Scharf Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Scharf Investments LLC owned 0.19% of Zoetis worth $103,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its position in Zoetis by 496.6% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 target price on Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.91.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $118.02 on Wednesday. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.29 and a 1 year high of $172.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $123.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.57. The firm has a market cap of $49.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 62.02% and a net margin of 28.24%.The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.22%.

Zoetis Profile

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.