Short Interest in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Expands By 8.2%

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,750,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 6,240,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BRKR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the second quarter valued at $296,000. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Bruker by 16.5% during the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Bruker by 51.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 210,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,555,000 after acquiring an additional 71,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bruker by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRKR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group began coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Bruker Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ BRKR traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.04. 2,044,498 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,412,424. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.56 and its 200-day moving average is $60.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66. Bruker has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.16.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bruker will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.