Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 63,039 Shares of Zoetis Inc. $ZTS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,771,447 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,039 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $327,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Zoetis by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,780,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,011,802,000 after buying an additional 5,474,210 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 12,431.2% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 24,069,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,028,423,000 after acquiring an additional 23,877,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,796,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,490,845,000 after acquiring an additional 149,382 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,327,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,294,000 after acquiring an additional 189,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at $734,425,000. 92.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ZTS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Zoetis from $190.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Zoetis from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $136.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $140.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.83.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:ZTS opened at $75.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $31.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Zoetis Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.47 and a 1 year high of $160.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.18.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.07). Zoetis had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 66.85%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Zoetis has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.850-7.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid 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 2.8%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, Director Frank A. Damelio bought 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $501,343.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 21,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,617,718.62. This represents a 44.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul Bisaro purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $75.88 per share, for a total transaction of $151,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,114,168.56. This trade represents a 7.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 11,650 shares of company stock worth $886,384 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

More Zoetis News

Here are the key news stories impacting Zoetis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed traders buying 8,095 call options, well above the normal daily volume of about 5,087, suggesting some investors are positioning for a rebound. MarketBeat options activity report

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.