Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 4,636.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bruker by 115.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 2,324.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 81.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the third quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BRKR. UBS Group began coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $56.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $48.07 and a 12 month high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.46 million. Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

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.