New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 127,698 Shares of Bruker Corporation $BRKR

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 52.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 370,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 127,698 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bruker were worth $12,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sector Gamma AS raised its position in Bruker by 28.0% during the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 250,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,152,000 after purchasing an additional 54,939 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 51,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 14,547 shares during the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 59,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 25,288 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 123,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,092,000 after buying an additional 54,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 58.6% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $43.75 on Tuesday. Bruker Corporation has a one year low of $28.53 and a one year high of $57.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of -273.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.45.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $860.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.40 million. Bruker had a negative net margin of 0.61% and a positive return on equity of 15.45%. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In related news, Director John A. Ornell sold 6,233 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $243,087.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 35,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,373,268. This represents a 15.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Munch sold 2,000 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.20, for a total value of $98,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 128,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,395.60. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,233 shares of company stock worth $726,487. 27.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BRKR. Citigroup lifted their target price on Bruker from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Bruker from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.71.

Bruker Company Profile

Bruker Corporation, founded in 1960 by physicist Günther Laukien and headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments and analytical solutions. The company designs systems that enable molecular and materials research across academic, governmental, and industrial laboratories.

Bruker’s product portfolio encompasses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers for molecular structure and dynamics studies, mass spectrometry platforms for proteomics and metabolomics, X-ray diffraction and scattering instruments for crystallography and materials characterization, atomic force and scanning probe microscopes for nanoscale surface analysis, as well as preclinical imaging systems such as micro-CT and MRI scanners.

In addition to hardware, Bruker provides software suites, applications support, training services, and long-term maintenance agreements to ensure optimal instrument performance.