Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. increased its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRKR. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 21.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,306,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $987,981,000 after buying an additional 2,521,904 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 140.3% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $66,930,000 after buying an additional 666,617 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Bruker by 4,875.9% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 470,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,470,000 after purchasing an additional 460,722 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Bruker by 1,933.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 410,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,331,000 after purchasing an additional 390,057 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Bruker by 9.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,627,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $250,501,000 after purchasing an additional 318,808 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BRKR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.50.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR opened at $44.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Bruker Co. has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $94.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.69. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.