Guggenheim Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on BRKR. Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.45.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $56.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.17. Bruker has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.66.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Bruker will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 purchased at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 11.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after purchasing an additional 14,069 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Bruker in the second quarter valued at $36,472,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 446.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 22,878 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bruker by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,223,000 after purchasing an additional 98,427 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Bruker by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 602,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,584,000 after purchasing an additional 171,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.