Larson Financial Group LLC Takes $178,000 Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,894 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Bruker by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 116,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,939,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 41.8% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Bruker by 17.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 44,962 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,224,000 after purchasing an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker in the first quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Bruker by 78.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 6,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of BRKR traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.25. The company had a trading volume of 458,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 998,848. Bruker Co. has a 52-week low of $53.79 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The firm had revenue of $721.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Bruker’s payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Bruker in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.44.

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.