Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 226.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,722 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,607 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Bruker were worth $698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. London Co. of Virginia boosted its stake 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 valued at $245,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,294 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP boosted its position in Bruker by 484.1% during the 4th quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 1,714,015 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $100,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,569 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Bruker by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $114,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,102 shares in the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter valued at $63,997,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter worth $63,378,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 2,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.36 per share, with a total value of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 27.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.87. 1,433,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,623,692. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.19. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $34.10 and a 12-month high of $72.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Bruker's payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BRKR. Citigroup downgraded Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.22.

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.