Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 602,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171,806 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $41,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 120.4% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Bruker by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 20.0% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $57.07 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.54. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $48.07 and a 1 year high of $94.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bruker Company 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.