Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 227,619 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 829,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227,619 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.55% of Bruker worth $48,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 4,636.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 2,324.1% in 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 last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $42.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.01. Bruker Co. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $94.35. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. On average, analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BRKR shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.