Wells Fargo & Company Begins Coverage on Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $78.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BRKR. Bank of America cut their price target on Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Bruker in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a buy rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $81.40.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $67.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Bruker has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $63.85 and a 200-day moving average of $74.78.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $800.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $799.44 million. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bruker will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bruker in the 4th quarter valued at $74,582,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 127.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,389,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $88,666,000 after buying an additional 779,549 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,472,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Bruker by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,664,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $122,328,000 after acquiring an additional 562,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Bruker by 925.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 362,035 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,602,000 after acquiring an additional 326,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Company Profile

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.