Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $14.75 Million Stock Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 37.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,709 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 119,457 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.15% of Bruker worth $14,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,253,314 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $723,588,000 after acquiring an additional 487,688 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,135,940 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $716,042,000 after purchasing an additional 291,386 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 8.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,840,735 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $488,478,000 after purchasing an additional 594,362 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 3,381,703 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $210,680,000 after purchasing an additional 422,100 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Bruker by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,308,939 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $260,877,000 after purchasing an additional 71,574 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In related news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total value of $1,350,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 28.20% of the company's stock.

Bruker Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Bruker stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $93.94. 438,700 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 776,622. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $53.79 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.48.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $844.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.35 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business's revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker's payout ratio is 6.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Bruker from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Bruker in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.29.

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.