Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Makes New Investment in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,378,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Bruker by 140.3% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $66,930,000 after buying an additional 666,617 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Bruker by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,627,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $250,501,000 after acquiring an additional 318,808 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Bruker by 139.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 526,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,844,000 after acquiring an additional 306,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Bruker by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 829,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,641,000 after acquiring an additional 227,619 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $38.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.79. Bruker Co. has a twelve month low of $34.10 and a twelve month high of $91.34. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRKR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

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.