Brokerages Set Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) Target Price at $56.22

Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.22.

BRKR has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup downgraded Bruker from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

Bruker Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $40.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 78.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.85. Bruker has a 52-week low of $34.10 and a 52-week high of $72.94.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 2,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,462,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 27.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. London Co. of Virginia boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 4,193,454 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,294 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP boosted its holdings in Bruker by 484.1% during the fourth quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 1,714,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,476,000 after buying an additional 1,420,569 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Bruker by 262.3% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $114,978,000 after buying an additional 1,420,102 shares in the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $63,997,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $63,378,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.