VELA Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 239.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,663 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,422 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC's holdings in Bruker were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Bruker by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,109 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Bruker by 81.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,826 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,245,000 after buying an additional 13,367 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Bruker by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bruker by 45.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Bruker by 95.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 190,855 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,188,000 after buying an additional 93,048 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 2,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,475,408,879.56. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 27.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bruker Stock Down 0.1%

BRKR traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.42. 1,207,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,711,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company's fifty day moving average price is $38.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.90. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Corporation has a one year low of $34.10 and a one year high of $72.94.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 firm 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 revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Bruker's payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on BRKR shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.89.

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.