Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Buys Shares of 208,306 Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE bought a new position in shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 208,306 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $8,695,000. Bruker accounts for about 1.6% of Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE owned about 0.14% of Bruker at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Bruker by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,725 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 1.4% during the first quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 22,014 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Bruker by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,115 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BRKR. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.36 per share, with a total value of $100,042.88. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 38,462,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 27.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ BRKR traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $42.46. 2,021,692 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,462. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.72 and a 200-day moving average of $46.27. Bruker Corporation has a one year low of $34.10 and a one year high of $72.94. The stock has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 81.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 2.31%. 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 prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.