Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Short Interest Up 8.4% in September

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,260,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 3,930,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BRKR. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 120.4% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bruker in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Bruker by 139.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target 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. Barclays assumed coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.82.

Bruker Trading Down 0.4 %

BRKR stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,824,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,040,630. The company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker has a 12 month low of $53.79 and a 12 month high of $94.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is 7.27%.

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.