Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Short Interest Up 20.5% in January

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,580,000 shares, an increase of 20.5% from the January 15th total of 7,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Zoetis

In related news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $55,804.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,757,196.26. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,366,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,739,905,000 after buying an additional 120,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,779,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,864,488,000 after purchasing an additional 95,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Zoetis by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,617,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,726,075,000 after buying an additional 190,137 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zoetis by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,483,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,237,000 after buying an additional 1,116,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Zoetis by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,059,255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Zoetis from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Zoetis in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Zoetis from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Zoetis from $242.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.90.

Zoetis Trading Down 4.5 %

NYSE:ZTS traded down $7.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $157.54. 7,656,606 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,578,743. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $168.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.78. Zoetis has a 52 week low of $144.80 and a 52 week high of $200.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.55% and a return on equity of 51.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Zoetis’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

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.