Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Stake Increased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 4,299.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,266 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 54,987 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Bruker were worth $2,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. London Co. of Virginia raised its stake in 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 valued at $245,820,000 after buying an additional 1,843,294 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,026,712 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $118,806,000 after purchasing an additional 185,912 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,013,741 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $118,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20,273 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 262.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 484.1% during the fourth quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 1,714,015 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $100,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BRKR shares. Citigroup lowered Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Barclays decreased their price objective 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 reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bruker has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.22.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ BRKR traded down $1.57 on Friday, reaching $38.30. 1,606,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,627,533. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $38.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $72.94.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.36 per share, with a total value of $100,042.88. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,462,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition 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.

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.