Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Short Interest Up 20.5% in January

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,580,000 shares, an increase of 20.5% from the January 15th total of 7,120,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Zoetis

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 23.4% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 105,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,594,000 after purchasing an additional 20,001 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 4,582.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Zoetis by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 90,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,663,000 after buying an additional 7,170 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 10.4% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its stake in Zoetis by 18.8% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 8,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

Zoetis Price Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock traded down $7.40 on Monday, hitting $157.54. 7,656,606 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,578,743. Zoetis has a 12-month low of $144.80 and a 12-month high of $200.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.78. The company has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Analysts expect that Zoetis will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

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.