Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,284 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Bruker were worth $6,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bruker by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Bruker by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 139.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Bruker by 120.4% in the second 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. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Bruker by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 30,911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $57.07 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The company has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.46 and a 200 day moving average of $64.60.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BRKR. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.36.

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.