Stifel Nicolaus Trims Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Target Price to $77.00

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BRKR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bruker from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $85.00.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR opened at $78.29 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.83 and a 200 day moving average of $76.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.81. Bruker has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $729.88 million. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bruker will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total value of $1,350,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the first quarter worth approximately $251,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Bruker in the first quarter worth approximately $218,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 3.7% in the first quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP now owns 466,521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $43,825,000 after purchasing an additional 16,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 3.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 869,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,648,000 after purchasing an additional 29,566 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.