New York Life Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Bruker by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bruker by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Bruker by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Bruker by 53.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Bruker by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,140 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.86.

Bruker Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $73.70 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $53.79 and a 1 year high of $94.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.22.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Bruker had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 13.38%. The company had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Bruker’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.27%.

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.