Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 2,436 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,284 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Bruker worth $6,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 139.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 73,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $479,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,662 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bruker by 96.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 19,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 9,724 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $57.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.20. Bruker Co. has a one year low of $48.07 and a one year high of $94.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.36.

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.