Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,534 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 43,926 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Bruker worth $19,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Freshford Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter valued at $10,761,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in Bruker by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 33,619 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,971,000 after acquiring an additional 10,055 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Bruker by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 549,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,212,000 after acquiring an additional 19,844 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker in the fourth quarter valued at $13,772,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Bruker by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,574 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 9,888 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Bruker Stock Performance

Bruker stock opened at $38.97 on Friday. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $34.10 and a 12-month high of $82.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.96.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. On average, research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.