Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 66.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 60,084 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Bruker were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Bruker by 4,636.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2,324.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Bruker by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bruker in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Bruker Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $42.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $94.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.96.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.