Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Guggenheim

Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $72.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

BRKR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.45.

Bruker Stock Up 3.1 %

BRKR stock opened at $57.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.01 and a 200-day moving average of $62.44. Bruker has a fifty-two week low of $48.07 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This represents a 0.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 120.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Bruker by 4,636.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 115.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.