42,880 Shares in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Acquired by Expect Equity LLC

Expect Equity LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 42,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,000. Bruker comprises about 2.6% of Expect Equity LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2,324.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Bruker by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.10.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR opened at $40.48 on Friday. 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 cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.26, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $79.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.37.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Bruker’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Bruker 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.