Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank lessened its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,358 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Bruker were worth $3,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 145.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 512 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $77.25 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $53.79 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The company has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.22.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The company had revenue of $721.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Bruker’s payout ratio is 7.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bruker news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRKR has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.00.

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.