Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys 13,263 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 47.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 41,281 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Zoetis were worth $4,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,011,802,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,210 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 12,431.2% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 24,069,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,028,423,000 after buying an additional 23,877,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,796,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,490,845,000 after buying an additional 149,382 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,327,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,294,000 after buying an additional 189,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $734,425,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis

In other news, Director Paul Bisaro acquired 2,000 shares of Zoetis stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $75.88 per share, for a total transaction of $151,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,114,168.56. The trade was a 7.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frank A. Damelio bought 6,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $501,343.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 21,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,617,718.62. This trade represents a 44.91% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 11,650 shares of company stock worth $886,384 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

NYSE ZTS opened at $76.04 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.66. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.47 and a 1 year high of $160.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.07). Zoetis had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 66.85%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.850-7.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ZTS. Barclays reduced their price target on Zoetis from $136.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Zoetis from $145.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.33.

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.