Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Short Interest Update

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, an increase of 23.9% from the February 13th total of 4,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 5.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Bruker

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Bruker by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Bruker by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Bruker by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRKR. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock opened at $47.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.10 and a 200 day moving average of $58.07. Bruker has a 12 month low of $44.11 and a 12 month high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.