Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 7.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,788,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $168,036,000 after buying an additional 123,984 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 127.8% during the second 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 8.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,508,000 after purchasing an additional 101,539 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Bruker by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 966,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $61,645,000 after purchasing an additional 27,870 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Bruker by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 869,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,648,000 after purchasing an additional 29,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRKR. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.82.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $62.45 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.10 and its 200 day moving average is $69.01. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $53.79 and a 12 month high of $94.86. The company has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.27%.

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.