Freshford Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Freshford Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 183,574 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,761,000. Bruker comprises about 3.1% of Freshford Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 2,324.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR opened at $36.96 on Wednesday. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.25. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.63, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

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 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 dividend yield of 0.54%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

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.