Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Stifel Nicolaus

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) was downgraded by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential downside of 1.01% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ZTS. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zoetis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.13.

Zoetis Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE ZTS opened at $161.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.74. Zoetis has a one year low of $139.70 and a one year high of $200.33. The firm has a market cap of $71.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.94.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 55.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Zoetis will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,571,930. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Zoetis by 5,533.3% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Zoetis during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Zoetis during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

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.