Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 257,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 68,245 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $17,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bruker by 2.3% during the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 139.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Bruker by 120.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Bruker by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 30,911 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Down 2.6 %

Bruker stock opened at $54.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.61. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $54.33 and a 1-year high of $94.86.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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