Analysts Set Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) Target Price at $53.71

Shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.7143.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Bruker from $43.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Bruker from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Bruker from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $60.00 price target on shares of Bruker in a research note on Thursday, November 20th.

Bruker Stock Down 3.6%

BRKR stock opened at $41.04 on Friday. Bruker has a 1-year low of $28.53 and a 1-year high of $57.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -256.50, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.19.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In other news, VP Mark Munch sold 7,000 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 128,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,365. The trade was a 5.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth $192,735,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 125.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,326,820 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $137,065,000 after buying an additional 1,850,215 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Bruker in the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,032,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bruker in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,459,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 196.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,413,919 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,938,000 after acquiring an additional 936,820 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.