Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Grows Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 62.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,210 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 121,201 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.23% of Bruker worth $23,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 90.4% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 356 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Bruker by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 438 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 28.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.29.

Bruker Trading Up 0.7 %

Bruker stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $90.42. The stock had a trading volume of 533,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,607. The stock has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.17. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $53.79 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.49.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker's payout ratio is 6.85%.

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.