Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.86.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $80.97 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Bruker has a 1-year low of $53.79 and a 1-year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $844.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $809.35 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bruker will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 28.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth $2,384,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Bruker by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 315,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,161,000 after purchasing an additional 121,201 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Bruker by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 138,302 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,616,000 after purchasing an additional 49,487 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Bruker by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,950,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $121,494,000 after purchasing an additional 56,869 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Bruker by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 928,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,840,000 after purchasing an additional 452,780 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.