Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.36.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BRKR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Bruker by 21.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,306,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $987,981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521,904 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 779,549 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth $36,472,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of Bruker by 4,875.9% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 470,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,470,000 after purchasing an additional 460,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Bruker by 1,933.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 410,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,331,000 after buying an additional 390,057 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bruker Stock Up 0.8 %

BRKR stock opened at $58.96 on Tuesday. Bruker has a one year low of $48.07 and a one year high of $94.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.61 and its 200 day moving average is $63.39. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.18.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.46 million. Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. Bruker’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

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.