UBS Group Cuts Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Price Target to $45.00

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $57.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

BRKR has been the subject of several other research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price target on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.10.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $37.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60. Bruker has a 52-week low of $34.10 and a 52-week high of $79.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 49.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bruker by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bruker by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,967,000 after buying an additional 69,806 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Bruker by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 95.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 190,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,188,000 after acquiring an additional 93,048 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.