Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Boosts Stake in Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,290 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,138 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $8,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter worth $27,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Zoetis in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 201.5% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis by 79.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zoetis Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Zoetis stock opened at $144.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.39. Zoetis Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.34 and a 52-week high of $183.11. The firm has a market cap of $63.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.83% and a return on equity of 56.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Zoetis has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Zoetis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Zoetis from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zoetis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.00.

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.