4,280 Shares in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Bought by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 4,636.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bruker by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the second quarter valued at $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 81.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Bruker in the third quarter valued at $73,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BRKR shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.45.

Bruker Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $60.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.17. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

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.