Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $608,000 Investment in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 10,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 4,636.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 2,324.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.50.

Bruker Trading Up 0.4 %

BRKR opened at $48.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 63.70, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.97 and a 200-day moving average of $59.00. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $45.29 and a 52 week high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. Equities research analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.