Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,300,000 shares, a drop of 15.2% from the June 30th total of 6,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ZTS. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Thursday, July 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.67.

Zoetis Stock Up 1.1 %

Zoetis stock opened at $181.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $82.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.86. Zoetis has a 1-year low of $144.80 and a 1-year high of $201.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 50.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Zoetis will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.432 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 18th. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 33.14%.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,895,235,000 after buying an additional 414,605 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,262,000 after buying an additional 3,244,074 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Zoetis by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,064,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,988,000 after purchasing an additional 57,798 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter worth about $980,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Zoetis by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,687,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,695,000 after purchasing an additional 178,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

About Zoetis

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.