Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $40.00 target price on the medical research company's stock, down from their previous target price of $50.00. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.68% from the company's current price.

BRKR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.10.

Bruker Stock Down 2.3%

BRKR traded down $0.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.50. 2,290,870 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,628,185. The stock has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23. Bruker has a fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $77.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.68.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in Bruker by 36.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,685 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,847,000 after buying an additional 14,888 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $300,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Bruker by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew 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 worth $2,601,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.