Bank of Nova Scotia Makes New Investment in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 67,700 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,826,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. London Co. of Virginia boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 4,193,454 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $245,820,000 after buying an additional 1,843,294 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Bruker by 18.9% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,410,137 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $100,599,000 after purchasing an additional 383,425 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,013,741 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $118,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20,273 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 262.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $114,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,102 shares during the period. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP increased its position in shares of Bruker by 484.1% in the fourth quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 1,714,015 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $100,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,569 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 27.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRKR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price target on Bruker and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bruker from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.30.

Bruker Price Performance

Bruker stock traded down $0.73 on Friday, reaching $30.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,943,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,038,396. Bruker Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.19 and a twelve month high of $72.94. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.53.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $797.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. 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.