353,200 Shares in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Bought by Braidwell LP

Braidwell LP purchased a new stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 353,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,705,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BRKR. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bruker in the fourth quarter worth about $300,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Bruker by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,967,000 after buying an additional 69,806 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Bruker by 95.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 190,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,188,000 after acquiring an additional 93,048 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

Bruker stock opened at $40.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.68. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $34.10 and a 1 year high of $79.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. On average, research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

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.