Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 83,494 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 88.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,291 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 83,494 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Bruker were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,013,741 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $118,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20,273 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Bruker by 140.3% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 666,617 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bruker during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,378,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $57,967,000 after purchasing an additional 69,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Bruker by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 829,763 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $48,641,000 after buying an additional 227,619 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Stock Up 2.7 %

BRKR traded up $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.96. The company had a trading volume of 2,289,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,328. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.63, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $83.32. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $43.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.25.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. Equities analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.00.

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.