Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR – Get Rating) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Bruker from $92.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $90.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Bruker from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Bruker Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $76.26 on Wednesday. Bruker has a 1 year low of $48.42 and a 1 year high of $84.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.38. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.63 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 34.71% and a net margin of 11.89%. Bruker’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien sold 82,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $6,520,106.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,262,287 shares in the company, valued at $3,013,155,101.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien sold 148,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.02, for a total value of $12,009,594.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,349,926 shares in the company, valued at $3,107,111,004.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frank H. Laukien sold 82,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $6,520,106.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 38,262,287 shares in the company, valued at $3,013,155,101.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247,460 shares of company stock worth $19,831,517. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BRKR. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. acquired a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,455 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Bruker by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Bruker by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Bruker by 1.7% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,587,450 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $125,155,000 after buying an additional 26,251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.40% of the company’s stock.

About Bruker

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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) BioSpin, BSI Chemicals, Applied Markets, Life Science, In-Vitro Diagnostics, Detection (CALID), BSI Nano, and Bruker Energy and Supercon Technologies (BEST).