Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $396.35 Million Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,495,686 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,385 shares during the quarter. Bruker makes up approximately 16.5% of Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 6.26% of Bruker worth $396,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 274.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,091 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bruker by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 45.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bruker by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup lowered Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.22.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.87. 1,433,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,623,692. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $34.10 and a 1-year high of $72.94. The business's 50 day moving average price is $38.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 52.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.83 million. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. Bruker's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Bruker's payout ratio is 38.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 2,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 27.30% of the company's stock.

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.