UPDATE: Baird Equity Research Downgrades Zimmer Holdings on Incremental Margin Concerns

In a report published Friday, Baird Equity Research analyst Jeff D. Johnson downgraded the rating on Zimmer Holdings ZMH from Outperform to Neutral, and lowered the price target from $93.00 to $91.00. In the report, Baird Equity Research noted, “Downgrading to Neutral/trimming price target to $91. 3Q trends looked solid on first pass, but after better understanding gross margin puts/takes from the quarter, we're incrementally cautious on ZMH's near-term earnings power and believe Street estimates for next year are too high. We're moving to near Street-low $6.15 EPS projection for 2014 and believe it could be hard for shares to work higher over next few quarters as GM% pressures continue and EPS growth stagnates in mid-to-upper single-digits.” Zimmer Holdings closed on Thursday at $85.66.