Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Now Covered by Analysts at Guggenheim

Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $72.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BRKR. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.45.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock traded up $2.27 on Thursday, hitting $57.56. The stock had a trading volume of 239,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,752. Bruker has a 52-week low of $48.07 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.49.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.62%.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Bruker by 120.4% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 4,636.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 115.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bruker in the second quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Bruker by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.