Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,146 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Bruker were worth $3,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bruker in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Bruker by 139.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $68.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $53.79 and a 1-year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 13.38%. The company had revenue of $721.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BRKR. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com lowered Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.78.

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.