22,244 Shares in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Bought by Buckhead Capital Management LLC

Buckhead Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 22,244 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Bruker by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Bruker by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Bruker by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,140 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR stock traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, hitting $79.03. 1,435,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 818,302. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Bruker Co. has a one year low of $53.79 and a one year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $844.50 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

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.