Buckhead Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Buckhead Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 22,244 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 145.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 512 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Bruker by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In related news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total value of $1,350,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Bruker stock traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, reaching $79.03. 1,435,679 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 818,302. Bruker Co. has a one year low of $53.79 and a one year high of $94.86. The company has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.01 and a 200 day moving average of $75.01.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $844.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $809.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.86.

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.