HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 444 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,972 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bruker were worth $409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BRKR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 1.4% during 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 buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Bruker by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,801,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Bruker by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.50.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $41.74 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $40.60 and a 12 month high of $94.35.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.