Palisade Capital Management LP Purchases 40,564 Shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Palisade Capital Management LP increased its position in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 674,925 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,564 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP owned about 0.45% of Bruker worth $28,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $57,967,000 after buying an additional 69,806 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker in the 4th quarter worth about $608,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Bruker by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 15,181 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Bruker by 303.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,870 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 13,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,725 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bruker currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.89.

Bruker Stock Performance

BRKR traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,207,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,257. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 81.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Bruker Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $72.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.14.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $801.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Bruker's payout ratio is 38.46%.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 2,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 27.30% of the company's stock.

Bruker 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.