Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) Position Trimmed by Gouws Capital LLC

Gouws Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Zoetis accounts for 2.7% of Gouws Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $3,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ZTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Zoetis by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,749,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,895,235,000 after acquiring an additional 414,605 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Zoetis by 31.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,244,074 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Zoetis by 0.6% during 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 shares of Zoetis during the 4th quarter valued at about $980,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $812,695,000 after buying an additional 178,303 shares in the last quarter. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Zoetis in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $223.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Argus raised shares of Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Zoetis from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price target on Zoetis from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.11.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZTS traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $183.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,328,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,810,009. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 3.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.86. Zoetis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.80 and a fifty-two week high of $201.92.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. Zoetis had a return on equity of 50.67% and a net margin of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current 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.