Stifel Financial Corp Sells 277 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,446 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 4,636.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Bruker by 115.3% in 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 period. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in Bruker during the second quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bruker Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of BRKR opened at $57.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.49. 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 has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.45.

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.