Rakuten Securities Inc. Invests $167,000 in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,001 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Bruker by 274.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,109 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Bruker by 45.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 416 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 valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bruker Trading Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $37.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 72.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.16. Bruker Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $72.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.46%.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 2,608 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.36 per share, with a total value of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,462,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,475,408,879.56. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BRKR shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup lowered Bruker from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bruker has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.22.

Bruker Company 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.