Thomas Bures Acquires 500 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Stock

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) CAO Thomas Bures acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $47.40 per share, with a total value of $23,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,572.80. The trade was a 16.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR opened at $44.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.17, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.21 and a 200 day moving average of $58.66. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $44.11 and a 12 month high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Bruker by 4,636.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bruker by 2,324.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.50.

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.