Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Stock Price Down 5.3% – Should You Sell?

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)’s share price was down 5.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $57.11 and last traded at $58.02. Approximately 805,182 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 1,224,903 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BRKR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.45.

Bruker Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The business had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 28.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Bruker by 11.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,272,000 after acquiring an additional 14,069 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,472,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bruker by 446.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 22,878 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Bruker by 5.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 166,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,628,000 after purchasing an additional 8,346 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bruker by 48.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,223,000 after purchasing an additional 98,427 shares during the period. 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.