CGN Advisors LLC Makes New $1.27 Million Investment in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

CGN Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,718 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Bruker by 11.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after purchasing an additional 14,069 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Bruker in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,472,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Bruker by 446.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 22,878 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Bruker by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,223,000 after buying an additional 98,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 39.9% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 602,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,584,000 after acquiring an additional 171,806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 research report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.45.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $56.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.66.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.46 million. Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

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

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.