Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Trading Down 2.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) shares dropped 2.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after HSBC lowered their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $225.00. HSBC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zoetis traded as low as $161.00 and last traded at $163.93. Approximately 1,643,068 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 3,159,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.45.

ZTS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zoetis presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.75.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.74, for a total transaction of $71,779.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,037,257.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,209 shares of company stock worth $371,293 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Zoetis by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Zoetis by 89.1% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Zoetis by 371.4% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zoetis Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.93. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.86.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.34% and a net margin of 27.38%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.