Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Receives $59.10 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.10.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BRKR. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,685 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,847,000 after purchasing an additional 14,888 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Bruker by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Bruker by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 44,366 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,601,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Bruker by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,494 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $967,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 140.3% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $66,930,000 after acquiring an additional 666,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $36.66. 525,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,628,225. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 48.26, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23. Bruker has a 1-year low of $34.10 and a 1-year high of $72.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. The company had revenue of $801.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

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.