Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,553 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Bruker worth $4,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 214,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,619,000 after acquiring an additional 3,819 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 8,198 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $66,930,000 after purchasing an additional 666,617 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $967,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Bruker by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 44,366 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,601,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $50.75 on Wednesday. Bruker Co. has a 52-week low of $48.07 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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.