T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,394,990 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 642,151 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 8.18% of Bruker worth $726,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 37.5% during 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 grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BRKR. Citigroup reduced their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.00.

Bruker Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BRKR traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.13. The company had a trading volume of 468,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,516,476. Bruker Co. has a 52-week low of $34.10 and a 52-week high of $82.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Bruker's payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Bruker 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.