Brokerages Set Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Target Price at $74.45

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.45.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 4,636.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Bruker by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Bruker by 81.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bruker during the third quarter worth about $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Up 0.2 %

BRKR stock opened at $58.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

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.