Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 81.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,826 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,367 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Bruker were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRKR. London Co. of Virginia grew its position in shares of Bruker by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 4,193,454 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $245,820,000 after buying an additional 1,843,294 shares during the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP grew its position in Bruker by 484.1% during the 4th quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 1,714,015 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $100,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,569 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its position in Bruker by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $114,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,102 shares during the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth $63,997,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth $63,378,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lowered 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. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 $1,475,408,879.56. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 27.30% of the company's stock.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,207,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Bruker Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $38.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.97. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 81.58, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.18.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. Bruker had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Bruker 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.