Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Acquires New Shares in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE acquired a new stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 208,306 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $8,695,000. Bruker makes up 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 0.14% of Bruker at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Bruker by 274.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,091 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Bruker by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,109 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Bruker by 45.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 2,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,462,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,475,408,879.56. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 27.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.89.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.42. 1,207,758 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,711,660. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.10 and a 52 week high of $72.94.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.83 million. Bruker had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bruker Corporation 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, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.46%.

Bruker Company 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.