Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Raises Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 57.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 793,509 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 290,546 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $100,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,306,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,190,326,000 after acquiring an additional 419,777 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Zoetis by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179,578 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 14.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,312,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,046,000 after acquiring an additional 550,859 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Zoetis by 13.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,241,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $620,595,000 after acquiring an additional 496,320 shares during the period. Finally, Fundsmith LLP lifted its stake in Zoetis by 25.3% in the third quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,615,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,966,000 after acquiring an additional 730,300 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $190.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.25.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $118.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.86. Zoetis Inc. has a one year low of $113.29 and a one year high of $172.23.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.100 EPS. Research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 35.22%.

About Zoetis

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.