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

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) shares gapped down prior to trading 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 Analyst Weigh In

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

Bruker Stock Down 3.3 %

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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.83. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 28.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter worth $27,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 90.4% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 356 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. purchased a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Bruker in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% 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.