South Dakota Investment Council Takes $703,000 Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 11.3% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 109.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 6,863 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in Bruker in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Bruker by 32.4% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 307,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $21,516,000 after acquiring an additional 75,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 5.6% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 42,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR stock opened at $50.82 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.03. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $48.07 and a 12 month high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.