Virtu Financial LLC Invests $420,000 in Bruker Corporation $BRKR

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC acquired a stake of 10,055 shares in Bruker Corporation, valued at approximately $420,000, according to a recent SEC filing.
• Bruker reported a drop in quarterly earnings, with $0.32 EPS, missing analyst estimates of $0.33, and a revenue of $797.40 million, falling short of expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, scheduled for payment on October 3rd, representing an annualized yield of 0.6%.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,055 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Bruker by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,525 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Bruker by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 28,782 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $661,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Bruker by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,011 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 29.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.36 per share, with a total value of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,462,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This 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 available at the SEC website. 27.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BRKR. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $57.00 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 $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Bruker and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.30.

Bruker Trading Up 2.9%

NASDAQ BRKR traded up $0.99 on Tuesday, hitting $35.23. 623,432 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,446,533. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. Bruker Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.00 and a 52-week high of $72.94.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $797.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $811.17 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 2.31%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Bruker has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.950-2.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 23rd. Bruker's payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

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.