Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.45.

BRKR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 28.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bruker

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Bruker by 0.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 94,867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Trading Up 5.6 %

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $60.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bruker has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.62.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Bruker’s payout ratio is presently 9.62%.

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.