Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,384,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LA Financiere DE L Echiquier lifted its position in Bruker by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. LA Financiere DE L Echiquier now owns 121,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,909,000 after acquiring an additional 21,453 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC increased its stake in Bruker by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 175,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Bruker by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 315,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,161,000 after purchasing an additional 121,201 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Bruker in the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bruker in the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 28.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BRKR. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.86.

Bruker Stock Up 2.0 %

BRKR stock opened at $90.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.17. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $53.79 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $844.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $809.35 million. Bruker had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 29.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.85%.

Bruker 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.