Diversified Trust Co Makes New Investment in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,050 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. London Co. of Virginia raised its holdings in Bruker by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 4,193,454 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $245,820,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,294 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 1,420,569 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its stake in Bruker by 262.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $63,997,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $63,378,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 2,608 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 38,462,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This trade 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 the SEC website. 27.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BRKR shares. Citigroup cut shares of Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America cut their target price on Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays decreased their price target on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, 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 note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.89.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $42.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,207,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,257. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company 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 fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.95 and a 200-day moving average of $46.03.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. 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.