Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,783,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 157,081 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.29% of Bruker worth $131,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 8,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Bruker by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 59,047 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Bruker in the third quarter valued at $2,985,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 305,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,064,000 after buying an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the third quarter worth about $845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ BRKR traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.53. The stock had a trading volume of 771,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,450,031. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.45. The company has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.25. Bruker Co. has a 52-week low of $53.79 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRKR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

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.