Pinebridge Investments L.P. Raises Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 42.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,619 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,055 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Bruker by 36.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,685 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,847,000 after buying an additional 14,888 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Bruker by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,272,000 after purchasing an additional 14,069 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Bruker by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BRKR. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.44. The stock had a trading volume of 3,505,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,528,203. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.95. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $79.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.21, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.