Covea Finance Sells 22,300 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Covea Finance lowered its position in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 264,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,300 shares during the period. Zoetis makes up 1.3% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $38,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 54.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 859.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 13,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 11,975 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Zoetis during the 1st quarter worth $22,891,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Zoetis by 67.0% during the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $125.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.97. Zoetis Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.25 and a 12-month high of $177.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.41. 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 (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.08. Zoetis had a return on equity of 57.19% and a net margin of 28.21%.The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. Analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. HSBC set a $140.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Zoetis from $158.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $160.00 target price on Zoetis in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.18.

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.