Brokerages Set Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Target Price at $74.45

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.45.

BRKR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company.

Bruker Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $59.73 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $57.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.01. Bruker has a 52-week low of $48.07 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following 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. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Bruker by 11.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after acquiring an additional 14,069 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bruker in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,472,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Bruker by 446.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 22,878 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Bruker by 5.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 166,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,628,000 after acquiring an additional 8,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Bruker by 48.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,223,000 after purchasing an additional 98,427 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.