Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 26,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bruker in the fourth quarter worth about $76,958,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bruker by 84.2% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,553,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $114,867,000 after acquiring an additional 710,228 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Bruker by 8.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,840,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $488,478,000 after acquiring an additional 594,362 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bruker by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,253,314 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $723,588,000 after acquiring an additional 487,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 95.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 928,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,840,000 after purchasing an additional 452,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $78.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.64 and a 200 day moving average of $73.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. Bruker Co. has a twelve month low of $53.79 and a twelve month high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $844.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $809.35 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total value of $1,350,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 28.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRKR has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.86.

Bruker 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.