Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,971 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 11.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after buying an additional 14,069 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter worth $300,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,967,000 after purchasing an additional 69,806 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Bruker by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 214,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after purchasing an additional 3,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BRKR. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Bruker Stock Up 13.3 %

BRKR opened at $41.19 on Thursday. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $34.10 and a 1-year high of $90.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.89 and a 200-day moving average of $55.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.