Groupe la Francaise Buys New Shares in Bruker Corporation $BRKR

Key Points

• Groupe la Française bought 33,935 Bruker shares worth approximately $1.22 million during the first quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.52% of BRKR.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but has improved, with several firms raising their price targets; Bruker has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target of $56.79.
• Bruker reported quarterly revenue of $823.4 million and EPS of $0.31, exceeding expectations, while revenue increased 2.7% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share.

Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 33,935 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,222,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth about $192,735,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bruker by 2,963.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,366,520 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $111,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289,269 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bruker by 125.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,326,820 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $137,065,000 after buying an additional 1,850,215 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Bruker by 317.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,309,404 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $108,796,000 after buying an additional 1,756,460 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 222.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,839,587 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $86,663,000 after buying an additional 1,269,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BRKR shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Bruker from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bruker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bruker from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.79.

Bruker Trading Down 2.3%

BRKR stock opened at $62.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $58.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.66. Bruker Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.53 and a 52 week high of $65.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of -261.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.29.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The medical research company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.08. Bruker had a negative net margin of 0.65% and a positive return on equity of 11.60%. The business had revenue of $823.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $795.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Bruker has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.150 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Corporation will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is currently -83.33%.

Bruker Profile

Bruker Corporation, founded in 1960 by physicist Günther Laukien and headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments and analytical solutions. The company designs systems that enable molecular and materials research across academic, governmental, and industrial laboratories.

Bruker's product portfolio encompasses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers for molecular structure and dynamics studies, mass spectrometry platforms for proteomics and metabolomics, X-ray diffraction and scattering instruments for crystallography and materials characterization, atomic force and scanning probe microscopes for nanoscale surface analysis, as well as preclinical imaging systems such as micro-CT and MRI scanners.

In addition to hardware, Bruker provides software suites, applications support, training services, and long-term maintenance agreements to ensure optimal instrument performance.

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