Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on ZTS. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Zoetis from $243.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.40.

Zoetis Stock Up 2.0 %

Zoetis stock traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.60. 4,003,268 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,329,930. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $166.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Zoetis has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $200.53. The stock has a market cap of $75.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,196.26. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,864,488,000 after acquiring an additional 95,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,726,075,000 after purchasing an additional 190,137 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Zoetis by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

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.