Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 48.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 103,648 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 99,085 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $7,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Bruker by 7.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,788,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $168,036,000 after buying an additional 123,984 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 127.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,389,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $88,666,000 after acquiring an additional 779,549 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Bruker by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,508,000 after purchasing an additional 101,539 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Bruker by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 966,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $61,645,000 after purchasing an additional 27,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Bruker by 3.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 869,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,648,000 after buying an additional 29,566 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays started coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.82.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $58.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $53.79 and a 1-year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Bruker had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm had revenue of $800.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $799.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. Bruker’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Bruker’s payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

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.