Aristides Capital LLC Buys New Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,485 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Bruker by 7.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,788,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $168,036,000 after acquiring an additional 123,984 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,414,362 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $132,865,000 after purchasing an additional 47,301 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Bruker by 127.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,508,000 after buying an additional 101,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Bruker by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 966,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $61,645,000 after buying an additional 27,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $66.76 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.29 and its 200 day moving average is $71.48. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $53.79 and a 1 year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Bruker had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm had revenue of $800.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $799.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is 7.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BRKR. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.40.

Bruker 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.