Short Interest in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Drops By 21.0%

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,010,000 shares, a decrease of 21.0% from the October 31st total of 3,810,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.14 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bruker

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Bruker by 4,636.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Bruker by 115.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 81.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of BRKR traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.95. The stock had a trading volume of 805,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,114,335. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.09. Bruker has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.20.

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). Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRKR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research cut Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.36.

Bruker Company Profile

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.