Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $48.25, but opened at $50.62. Bruker shares last traded at $53.07, with a volume of 869,944 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bruker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.36.

Bruker Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.80 and its 200-day moving average is $64.83. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. Bruker’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter worth approximately $1,142,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the 2nd quarter worth $36,472,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 15.2% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 466,865 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $43,857,000 after acquiring an additional 61,429 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Bruker by 1,694.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 202,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,936,000 after acquiring an additional 191,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Bruker by 5.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 166,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,628,000 after acquiring an additional 8,346 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.