First Merchants Corp Has $1.98 Million Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

First Merchants Corp cut its holdings in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,707 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,387 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Zoetis by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 116,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,621,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,321,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 55,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,012,000 after acquiring an additional 6,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $116.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.95. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $113.30 and a one year high of $172.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 28.24% and a return on equity of 62.02%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 20th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 35.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC set a $140.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.91.

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.