Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (ZBH-N)

Investing in healthcare is hard. He holds BDX which he sees it as the shopping mall of healthcare products. He used to own ZBH but they suffered from recalls. He would probably stick to one of the three since he believes they are the best run companies in healthcare.

Their business is orthopedics (hips and knees). Have had shipping problems to customers and a received an FDA 483 notice (inspection) to one of their facilities. This will take a while to turn around. Better to buy Stryker.

(A Top Pick Feb 2/17, Up 8.90%) A great US company. He likes the medical device companies. These devices are going to be demanded more and more as we all get older.

(A Top Pick Oct 13/16. Down 11%.) This is medical parts, knees, hips, spinal fusion products, etc. Had felt the stock would benefit from aging baby boomers. However, they had some inventory problems, and didn’t experience the kind of growth he expected. It’s still a great place to be.p

We need hips and knees and are looking to the US for them. PE is 14-15 times earnings, to shield your capital from a slow decline in the Canadian dollar. The US dollar has been a one way trade. (Analysts’ target: $134.00).

Thinks it is time to look at certain parts of healthcare. The situation is a little muddied, because we are faced with changes to the Affordable Care Act, and are not sure what form they are going to take and who it is going to affect. This company is a maker of joints, artificial hips, etc. There is some risk of competition and commoditization of these devices. He would probably look for another area in the healthcare arena. Some of the larger insurers are very interesting.

They reported earnings that met expectations but guidance was tepid. It spooked the market with a suggestion of slower growth. Anything hinting at slower growth in the healthcare space has this effect. Short term investors should stay out of healthcare. 3-5 year horizon investors will find this a great company to hold.

The largest global supplier of artificial knees and hips. They also do disc back stabilization products as well as titanium teeth. Very well-run company, and trading at a very reasonable valuation. Did a big acquisition of Biomet and they expect $350 million of synergies. Dividend yield of 0.76%.

(Top Pick Aug 6/15, Up 30.22%) A spare parts company for humans. He knows so many people who are getting parts replaced or getting implants. The population is aging. Demographics change very, very slowly.

It has not done well recently. Hip and Knee replacement. People are getting older and there will be more replacements in the future. He is happy to buy it here for the long term.

They are primarily in the business of artificial knees and hips. Lots of baby boomers starting to wear out their joints and needing new ones. It is a growth industry. It has 75% gross margin. It has the best value in this sector.

Hips, knees and extremities. Demand will grow 4-6% over the long term. They have not yet expanded outside of North America. People are getting older and the number of 60 year olds is getting wider and they wear out their hips and knees. They don’t have a lot of pricing power, but have certainty in the need for the products. It sold off recently from currency exposure. The value is quite reasonable here. They have a great track record of increasing dividends and buying back stock.

(A Top Pick Nov 20/13. Up 29.78%.) Announced an acquisition, so had a good pop to it, so she sold her stake into that.

She held it in her portfolios because of the valuation and demographics. She sold into that big spike on the announcement when they made an acquisition. It has drifted down and now has come back up. There seem to be a lot of synergies. They are in the same town. There is compelling value there now. If you have a longer time horizon it will probably do well for you. She owns another medical stock.

A top pick tonight is a competitor. Healthcare is economically sensitive and the body parts business is extremely economically sensitive. If you don’t have insurance, it costs a lot to fix them and a lot of this is elective. They are making an acquisition.