Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 5,427 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,427 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bruker were worth $2,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,972 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Lane Generational LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 228.4% during the fourth quarter. Lane Generational LLC now owns 66,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after buying an additional 46,284 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. TradeLink Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $1,046,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 81,166.7% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,876 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 4,870 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.50.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $45.97 on Friday. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $44.11 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.