Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 15,118 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 376.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,139 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,118 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,932,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179,578 shares during the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 361.2% during the 4th quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd now owns 333,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 261,155 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 134.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,631,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,290,000 after purchasing an additional 935,432 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 197,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,950,000 after purchasing an additional 29,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zoetis by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,185,000 after purchasing an additional 60,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Stock Down 1.2%

ZTS stock opened at $80.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $106.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.88. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.38 and a fifty-two week high of $172.23.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 66.85% and a net margin of 27.80%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.850-7.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Zoetis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael B. Mccallister purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $77.76 per share, for a total transaction of $233,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,906,986.24. This trade represents a 13.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frank A. Damelio purchased 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $501,343.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,617,718.62. This trade represents a 44.91% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 11,650 shares of company stock worth $886,384. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ZTS. Bank of America raised their price target on Zoetis from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Zoetis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Zoetis from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.92.

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.