Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) Shares Down 2.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) traded down 2.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after HSBC lowered their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $225.00. HSBC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zoetis traded as low as $161.00 and last traded at $163.93. 1,643,068 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 3,159,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.45.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Zoetis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Zoetis in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total value of $159,983.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,267.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,209 shares of company stock valued at $371,293 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zoetis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Zoetis during the fourth quarter worth about $980,646,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Zoetis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,716,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244,074 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new stake in Zoetis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $242,757,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis in the third quarter valued at about $176,219,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Zoetis by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,448,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,923,000 after purchasing an additional 797,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Zoetis Trading Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $76.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $166.94 and a 200-day moving average of $178.83.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.34% and a net margin of 27.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.