Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 27,000 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 61.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,100 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,685 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,847,000 after acquiring an additional 14,888 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Bruker by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,508 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $300,000. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,273,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bruker Stock Performance

BRKR stock traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.18. 833,518 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,616,169. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $78.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.92.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.10.

About Bruker

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.