Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Coverage Initiated at Barclays

Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $75.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

BRKR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.82.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR opened at $60.49 on Tuesday. Bruker has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.37. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.65.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Bruker had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $800.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $799.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 7.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 1.3% during the first quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,534 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bruker by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Bruker by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 19.4% in the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 139.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.