ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 21,173 Shares of Bruker Corporation $BRKR

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 21,173 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,402 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Bruker by 2.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 8,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,306 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,060 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 26,693 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BRKR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bruker from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Bruker from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Bruker from $53.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.57.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR traded up $3.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.31. 2,012,693 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,182,166. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Bruker Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $32.37 and a fifty-two week high of $68.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of -55.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $874.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $865.16 million. Bruker had a positive return on equity of 12.47% and a negative net margin of 2.35%. Bruker’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bruker Corporation will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Bruker’s payout ratio is -18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other news, VP Mark Munch sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total transaction of $105,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 134,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,127,193.22. This represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 27.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bruker Profile

Bruker Corporation develops and manufactures scientific instruments, analytical systems and related software used to study materials, molecules and biological processes. Its technologies support research, discovery and quality control in fields including life sciences, pharmaceutical development, chemical analysis, materials science, environmental testing and clinical research.

The company’s product portfolio includes nuclear magnetic resonance and electron paramagnetic resonance systems, mass spectrometers, infrared and Raman spectroscopy instruments, X-ray analysis equipment, microscopy and nanoanalysis systems, and preclinical imaging technologies.