Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Stake in Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ZBH)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ZBH) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 39,348 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,156,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CKW Financial Group lifted its stake in Zimmer Biomet by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 955 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. FWG Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Zimmer Biomet by 2.9% during the third quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its stake in Zimmer Biomet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 9,466 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Zimmer Biomet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Zimmer Biomet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 26,827 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZBH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zimmer Biomet from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Zimmer Biomet from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Zimmer Biomet in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Zimmer Biomet from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $128.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Zimmer Biomet from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.15.

Zimmer Biomet Stock Performance

ZBH stock opened at $112.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.04. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.69 and a 12-month high of $133.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.88.

Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. will post 8.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zimmer Biomet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Zimmer Biomet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.57%.

Insider Activity

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

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.