Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Makes New $313,000 Investment in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 165.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,777 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2,977 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 2,125.7% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after buying an additional 26,231 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 2.3% in the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 66.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 2,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 25.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 17,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,085,000 after buying an additional 3,397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $59.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.06. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The company had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BRKR shares. 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. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.09.

Insider Activity

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

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.