Washington Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,755 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $908,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 274.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,091 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 45.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup lowered Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.22.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $38.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of 50.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. The business's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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.

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