BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 20,194 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,722 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 20,194 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Bruker were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 21.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,306,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $987,981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,521,904 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Bruker by 127.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,389,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $88,666,000 after buying an additional 779,549 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Bruker in the second quarter worth $36,472,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 123.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 555,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,444,000 after acquiring an additional 307,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 78.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 593,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,845,000 after purchasing an additional 260,363 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BRKR. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $58.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.39. Bruker Co. has a twelve month low of $48.07 and a twelve month high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

Bruker 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.