Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) CEO Buys $5,014,000.00 in Stock

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Bruker Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of BRKR traded down $1.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,402,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,836. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.07. Bruker Co. has a twelve month low of $48.07 and a twelve month high of $94.86. The company has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,472,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Bruker by 15.2% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 466,865 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $43,857,000 after buying an additional 61,429 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Bruker by 1,694.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 202,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,936,000 after buying an additional 191,435 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Bruker by 5.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 166,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,628,000 after buying an additional 8,346 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BRKR. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research cut Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.36.

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.