Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Gap Down to $82.94

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $82.94, but opened at $79.44. Bruker shares last traded at $79.12, with a volume of 429,035 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on 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 target on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bruker currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.86.

Bruker Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.17.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.05. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $844.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $809.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s payout ratio is 6.85%.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In related 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 28.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,253,314 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $723,588,000 after buying an additional 487,688 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Bruker by 2.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,135,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $716,042,000 after purchasing an additional 291,386 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Bruker by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,080,071 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $593,724,000 after purchasing an additional 239,336 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP lifted its stake in Bruker by 14.3% during the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 3,381,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $210,680,000 after purchasing an additional 422,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Bruker by 2.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,308,939 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $260,877,000 after purchasing an additional 71,574 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.