Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.86.

BRKR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Insider Activity

In other Bruker news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total value of $1,350,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 28.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bruker during the first quarter worth $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 145.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $80.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.76. Bruker has a one year low of $53.79 and a one year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $844.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $809.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s payout ratio is presently 6.85%.

About Bruker

Bruker Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and distributes scientific instruments, and analytical and diagnostic solutions in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Bruker Scientific Instruments (BSI) BioSpin, BSI CALID, BSI Nano, and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies.