Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,180 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bruker were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BRKR. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Bruker by 0.8% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 30,911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Bruker by 23.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bruker by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on BRKR shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research cut Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.45.

Bruker Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $57.00 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a PEG 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.44.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Bruker

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

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.