Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Cuts Stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 33.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 755,800 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 385,962 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.50% of Bruker worth $31,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Bruker by 274.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,091 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Bruker by 54.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,109 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 2,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,462,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,475,408,879.56. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 27.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRKR has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report 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 MarketBeat.com, Bruker has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.22.

Bruker Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR traded up $0.27 during trading on Monday, hitting $38.52. 230,151 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,946. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $34.10 and a 12-month high of $72.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 50.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $801.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. Bruker's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

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

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.