Stryker Corporation (SYK)

[SmartETrader]

Nurse to expose Stryker Corporation in a new book. Manufacturing defects that can kill.

[Johnstone]

Piper Jaffray Upgrades Stryker Corp. (SYK) to Overweight 9/16/2010

The year-on-year earnings growth is 24% (past vs next) while the PE is only 17. Target price of $59. Yahoo target price is $58

[analogdog]

Waiting on the bottom.

[analogdog]

Top 10 Stocks With Big Insider Buying, Buybacks

02/28/08 - 11:48 AM EST

"Next on the list is Stryker (SYK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), a medical device company that announced one of the largest buybacks last week. The company's board authorized a $750 million stock-repurchase plan.

The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company, which specializes in orthopedics, on Jan. 23 posted spectacular quarterly and year-end results. In the fourth quarter, the company earned $278 million, or 66 cents a share, a 21.8% jump from the same period last year. Net sales increased 18.4% to $1.66 billion in the quarter."

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/stockpickr/10405222.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

NOTE: Stock went $62 - $69 in 3 days on the financials announcement and is almost back to that level despite record earnings and the aging population needing hips and knees.

[analogdog]

Correction: Medical Device Story
Friday February 29, 6:56 am ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a Feb. 27 story about medical device companies, The Associated Press incorrectly described a settlement between Advanced Neuromodulation Systems and the federal government. The article should have specified that the company was alleged to have paid doctors for testing its products on patients, but that no charges were ever brought. The article also erroneously reported that the company settled with federal prosecutors. The company settled with the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department.


A correct version follows.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- After years of criticizing drug company gifts and payments to physicians, lawmakers have turned their scrutiny to similar tactics used by medical device companies.

Senate lawmakers on Wednesday questioned executives from orthopedic makers Stryker Corp. and Zimmer Holdings Inc. on gifts and consulting fees paid to surgeons who use their implants. Both companies specialize in replacement knees and hips.

Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., who called the hearing, accused both companies and physicians of putting their financial interests ahead of patients.

"These types of unethical payments are not anecdotal, but rather have been pervasive and industrywide for far too long," said Kohl, who chairs the Senate's committee on aging. "The physicians who take their money are equal participants and equally culpable."

Device makers have said surgeons are paid fairly to provide important feedback on new devices. But an inspector from the Department of Health and Human Services told lawmakers that many consulting arrangements involve no work at all and are instead aimed at buying loyalty from surgeons who implant hundreds of devices each year.

In one example given by Health and Human Services inspector Greg Demske, the company Advanced Neuromodulation Systems allegedly paid doctors $5,000 for every five patients they tested with the company's product. The company later settled with Health and Human Services inspectors who alleged that the payments were nothing more than a marketing ploy to boost sales. No charges were filed against the company.

Demske said it is difficult to prosecute companies for illegal kickbacks because they are often disguised as educational grants or royalty fees. He said legal changes may be needed to curb the influence of money in the industry.

Dr. Charles Rosen, a professor of orthopedic surgery, said it was unlikely physician groups would try to stop the questionable financial arrangements.

"These practices are so embedded among the people running these societies I don't think it will be possible to change them without something from outside," said Rosen, who heads a group for spinal surgeons who don't accept industry money.

Kohl and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, are pushing a bill that would require drug and device makers to disclose how much they spend on gifts, travel and other payments to physicians.

Zimmer Vice President Chad Phipps said his company supports the measure and acknowledged that payments to physicians "may have been excessive at times."

Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer was one of five companies that together paid $310 million last year to settle charges that they gave doctors illegal kickbacks. Stryker was among those companies but was not charged because it cooperated early in the Department of Justice's investigation.

According to an estimate from Kohl's office, the five companies together spent $230 million on payments to physicians over four years.

Stryker Vice President Edward Lipes said mandatory disclosure of gifts, consulting fees and other payments would discourage companies from using the tactics inappropriately.

The industry group AdvaMed said Kohl and Grassley's bill should apply only to companies that spend large sums on physicians -- and exclude those that don't. Lawmakers had mixed reactions to that suggestion.

Stryker shares fell 66 cents to $66.93. Shares of Zimmer Holdings rose 23 cents to $77.45.

[analogdog]

DOJ Subpoenas Stryker Documents
Thursday February 28, 5:34 pm ET
Stryker Gets DOJ Subpoena for Documents in Criminal Investigation Amid SEC Inquiry

NEW YORK (AP) -- Medical products maker Stryker Corp. said Thursday the Department of Justice subpoenaed the company for documents related to an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry.

In October, the SEC sent the company an informal inquiry for information related to the sale of medical devices in foreign countries. Prior to that request, Stryker was one of five medical implant makers that settled with federal prosecutors over doctor kickbacks for use of orthopedic implants.

Because Stryker began cooperating with authorities before the others, it was allowed to enter a non-prosecution agreement and was not charged. The other four companies agreed to pay $310 million total as part of the settlement; Stryker did not have to pay.

Stryker disclosed the Department of Justice investigation in its annual report, filed with the SEC Thursday. The company said the department request entailed documents from Jan. 1, 2000, to the present, regarding possible violations of federal criminal and antitrust laws.

Shares of Stryker rose 4 cents to $66.08 in after-hours trading after falling 30 cents to close at $66.04 during regular trading.