Allworth Financial LP Raises Stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 92.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 758 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Bruker were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. London Co. of Virginia raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 4,193,454 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,820,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,294 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP increased its holdings in Bruker by 484.1% during the 4th quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 1,714,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,569 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its position in Bruker by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $114,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,102 shares in the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter worth $63,997,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter worth $63,378,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bruker Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $40.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.98, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.10 and a 52 week high of $72.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.43 and a 200 day moving average of $44.98.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $801.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 38.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.36 per share, with a total value of $100,042.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,462,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRKR has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Bruker from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.89.

Bruker Company 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.