Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Trading Down 2.4% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) traded down 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $61.19 and last traded at $61.60. 159,914 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,037,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays started coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.82.

Bruker Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $800.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $799.44 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Bruker by 127.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,389,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $88,666,000 after purchasing an additional 779,549 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,472,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Bruker by 123.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 555,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,444,000 after purchasing an additional 307,021 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Bruker by 78.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 593,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,845,000 after purchasing an additional 260,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP grew its position in Bruker by 262.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 333,997 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $21,312,000 after purchasing an additional 241,959 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bruker Company Profile

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.