Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) PT Set at $40.00 by Stifel Nicolaus

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) has been assigned a $40.00 price target by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.46% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bruker from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on Bruker and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.30.

Bruker Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $30.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.96, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16. Bruker has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.04.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $797.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 2,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 38,462,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,475,408,879.56. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,971 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 526,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,844,000 after buying an additional 306,282 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,013,741 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $118,081,000 after buying an additional 20,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker in the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.