Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in Bruker Corporation $BRKR

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 63.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $57,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 0.8% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,115 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 26,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.0% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 31,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 63.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 26.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,673 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Bruker from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Bruker from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bruker currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $36.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Bruker Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.53 and a 12-month high of $64.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 1.20.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $797.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.17 million. Bruker had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Bruker has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.950-2.050 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 23rd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bruker news, Director Cynthia M. Friend sold 3,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $114,003.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,016 shares in the company, valued at $581,016. This trade represents a 16.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 27.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.