Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,525 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bruker were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Bruker by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,608 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,572,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 30,866.7% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 929 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Bruker by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 38,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares in the last quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,176,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of Bruker by 925.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 362,035 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,602,000 after purchasing an additional 326,741 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BRKR shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.40.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $70.67 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.65. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.82.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Bruker had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $800.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $799.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Bruker’s payout ratio is 7.27%.

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.