Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Stock Price

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 39.98% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.18.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR stock traded down $1.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.15. 486,213 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,109,698. Bruker has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bruker will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 120.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Bruker by 4,636.4% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Bruker by 115.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Bruker in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 81.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.