Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys 17,518 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 5.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 332,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,518 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $31,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Bruker by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 19.4% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,005 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Bruker in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

Bruker Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $61.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.20. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $53.79 and a 12 month high of $94.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.29.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $721.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.88 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 13.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.27%.

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.