First Trust Advisors LP Grows Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR – Get Rating) by 2,119.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 259,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 248,133 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.18% of Bruker worth $13,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Bruker by 36.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,188,371 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $388,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,289 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bruker by 4.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,253,314 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $723,588,000 after buying an additional 487,688 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 2.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,135,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $716,042,000 after buying an additional 291,386 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Bruker by 24.2% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,393,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 272,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Bruker by 111.5% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 489,284 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,961,000 after acquiring an additional 257,998 shares during the last quarter. 70.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $72.10 on Friday. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $48.42 and a 12-month high of $76.81. The company has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.51.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The medical research company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. Bruker had a return on equity of 34.13% and a net margin of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $708.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $697.68 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other news, Director Cynthia M. Friend sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total transaction of $62,867.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,576 shares in the company, valued at $790,177.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Cowen reduced their target price on Bruker to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.75.

Bruker Profile

(Get Rating)

Bruker Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and distribution of scientific instruments, and analytical and diagnostic solutions that enable customers to explore life and materials at microscopic, molecular, and cellular levels. It operates through the following segments: Bruker Scientific Instruments (BSI) Life Science, BSI Nano, and Bruker Energy and Supercon Technologies (BEST).