Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,260,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 3,930,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on BRKR shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.82.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,824,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,040,630. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.71. Bruker has a one year low of $53.79 and a one year high of $94.86.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRKR. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Bruker by 7.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,788,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $168,036,000 after acquiring an additional 123,984 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter valued at $5,593,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 21.8% in the first quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 162,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,236,000 after purchasing an additional 29,029 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker in the first quarter worth $1,142,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Bruker during the second quarter valued at $36,472,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.