Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Now Covered by Guggenheim

Equities researchers at Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 30.01% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.45.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR opened at $55.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.33 and a 200-day moving average of $62.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bruker has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 28.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 66.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 20.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 120.4% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bruker during the 2nd quarter valued at about $197,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 27,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.