Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 47,322 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,650,853 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 47,322 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Bruker worth $624,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 4,636.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bruker by 2,324.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 37.5% in the fourth 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BRKR. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group began coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR stock opened at $42.08 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.91. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.37, a P/E/G 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. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $94.35.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.