Federated Hermes Inc. Lowers Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,529 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 773 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.10% of Bruker worth $10,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,342,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after buying an additional 15,137 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 3rd quarter worth $266,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 3rd quarter worth $671,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bruker Trading Up 5.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $82.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $88.04 and its 200 day moving average is $74.39. 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 $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

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 $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,618.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.20% of the company’s stock.

About Bruker

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.