J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Raises Position in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 8.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 227,908 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,168 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $33,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Zoetis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,886,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,532,276,000 after purchasing an additional 330,823 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,081,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,721,356,000 after purchasing an additional 95,294 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Zoetis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $809,491,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 5.7% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,659,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,629,000 after buying an additional 250,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 113.0% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,761,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,671,000 after buying an additional 1,995,491 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $123.89 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $123.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.91. The stock has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.25 and a 52-week high of $177.40.

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

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 35.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ZTS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Zoetis from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays began coverage on Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $136.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Zoetis from $158.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.91.

Zoetis Company 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.