Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Price Target to $77.00

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) had its price objective reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BRKR. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bruker from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $76.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Bruker has a 12 month low of $53.79 and a 12 month high of $94.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.73. The stock has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The business had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bruker will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In related news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bruker in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Bruker in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 145.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 512 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Bruker in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.