First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 257,755 Shares of Bruker Corporation $BRKR

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 37.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 951,802 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 257,755 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.63% of Bruker worth $39,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sculptor Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 2,598,438 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $108,459,000 after acquiring an additional 884,423 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Bruker in the second quarter valued at $62,032,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 65.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,476,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,688,000 after purchasing an additional 586,516 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 107.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,465,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $61,162,000 after purchasing an additional 758,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,293,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,298,000 after buying an additional 537,845 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRKR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild Redb raised Bruker to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Bruker from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Redburn Partners set a $60.00 target price on Bruker in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.83.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $45.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.04 and a 200-day moving average of $38.13. Bruker Corporation has a one year low of $28.53 and a one year high of $64.64. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -283.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.17.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $860.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.40 million. Bruker had a negative net margin of 0.61% and a positive return on equity of 15.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Bruker has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.850-1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -125.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cynthia M. Friend sold 3,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $114,003.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,016. This trade represents a 16.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John A. Ornell sold 6,233 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $243,087.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,212 shares in the company, valued at $1,373,268. This trade represents a 15.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

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.