Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Acquires 17,068 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 41.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,671 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,068 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Bruker were worth $3,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,013,741 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $118,081,000 after buying an additional 20,273 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Bruker by 262.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $114,978,000 after buying an additional 1,420,102 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,687,364 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $98,914,000 after acquiring an additional 313,171 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Bruker by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $66,930,000 after acquiring an additional 666,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,378,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BRKR. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of Bruker stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.90. 715,933 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,511,151. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.96. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.30, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. 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 1-year low of $34.10 and a 1-year high of $82.04.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.