Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,070,000 shares, a drop of 13.0% from the June 30th total of 3,530,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BRKR shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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, July 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.78.

Bruker Stock Up 1.5 %

Bruker stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.94. 1,037,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,007,163. Bruker has a 1 year low of $53.79 and a 1 year high of $94.86. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.04.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Bruker’s payout ratio is currently 7.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Bruker by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,534 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.