Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Shares Bought by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia boosted its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 78.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,193,454 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,843,294 shares during the period. Bruker accounts for 1.3% of London Co. of Virginia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. London Co. of Virginia owned 2.77% of Bruker worth $245,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 2,324.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR opened at $37.79 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.10. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $34.10 and a 12-month high of $79.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.72, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.23.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 3.36%. The company had revenue of $801.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Bruker’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BRKR shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price target on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bruker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.10.

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.