State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 6,879 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 43,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,879 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Bruker were worth $2,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Bruker by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Bruker by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bruker Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $52.92 on Friday. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.07 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.13. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.16.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BRKR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 upgraded Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.50.

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.