UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Zimmer Holdings

In a report published Monday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating on Zimmer Holdings

, and raised its price target from $72.00 to $75.00. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “We have become increasingly constructive on ZMH's pipeline. To test our hypothesis we conducted a survey of 75 orthopedic surgeons asking questions about ZMH's HA product, ZMH's new power tools and ZMH's new knee. None of these products is likely to be a homerun, but our survey strongly supports our view that each of these products has the potential to add between $50-$150mm in sales. Given ZMH's relatively small revenue base, those numbers suggest ZMH's pipeline could add 2-3 growth points to ZMH's top line in 2013 and 2014. Considering that ZMH's top line growth rate has only been in the 2-3% range lately, the ZMH pipeline could drive nearly a doubling of ZMH's revenue growth. All three of these launches will be sold through ZMH's existing sales organization suggesting the potential for real operating leverage as well. Today ZMH is trading slightly below 7x 2013E EBITDA and 11.8x 2013E EPS. Given our increasing conviction in the ZMH pipeline we are raising our PO to $75.” Zimmer Holdings closed on Friday at $66.90.