Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 272,311 Shares of Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ZBH)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ZBH) by 69.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 118,060 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 272,311 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Zimmer Biomet were worth $12,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Zimmer Biomet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,879,385 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $524,942,000 after buying an additional 125,852 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Zimmer Biomet by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,955,449 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $417,814,000 after buying an additional 218,688 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Zimmer Biomet by 49.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,752,298 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $189,161,000 after buying an additional 577,320 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in Zimmer Biomet by 57.2% during the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,021,062 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $107,855,000 after buying an additional 371,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Zimmer Biomet by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,006,217 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $108,621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388 shares during the period. 88.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Zimmer Biomet

In other news, SVP Lori Winkler sold 1,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.40, for a total transaction of $150,649.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $915,379.20. The trade was a 14.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ZBH. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Zimmer Biomet from $118.00 to $112.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Zimmer Biomet from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Zimmer Biomet in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Zimmer Biomet in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Zimmer Biomet from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zimmer Biomet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.15.

Zimmer Biomet Stock Performance

Shares of Zimmer Biomet stock opened at $107.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.15. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $97.69 and a one year high of $133.90.

Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. Zimmer Biomet had a return on equity of 12.99% and a net margin of 11.77%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. will post 8.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zimmer Biomet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Zimmer Biomet’s payout ratio is 21.57%.

About Zimmer Biomet

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a medical technology company worldwide. The company designs, manufactures, and markets orthopedic reconstructive products, such as knee and hip products; S.E.T. products, including sports medicine, biologics, foot and ankle, extremities, and trauma products; craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products comprising face and skull reconstruction products, as well as products that fixate and stabilize the bones of the chest to facilitate healing or reconstruction after open heart surgery, trauma, or for deformities of the chest.