Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.50.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BRKR. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group started coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Bruker by 11.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after purchasing an additional 14,069 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Bruker during the 4th quarter valued at about $300,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Bruker by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,967,000 after buying an additional 69,806 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 214,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,619,000 after buying an additional 3,819 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bruker Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $36.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Bruker has a 1 year low of $34.10 and a 1 year high of $91.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.00.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.