Franklin Resources Inc. Has $558,000 Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Bruker by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,930,000 after acquiring an additional 666,617 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $63,378,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,967,000 after acquiring an additional 69,806 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 829,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,641,000 after buying an additional 227,619 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 634,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,218,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $37.74 on Thursday. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $84.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $45.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BRKR. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.