Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $8.53 Million Stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,147 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,705 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.08% of Bruker worth $8,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sector Gamma AS boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 127,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,355,000 after purchasing an additional 23,957 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 4,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 2,342.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 388,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,532,000 after purchasing an additional 372,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Bruker by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR opened at $70.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.00. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $53.79 and a 1-year high of $94.86. The firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.22.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.85%.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In other news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total value of $1,350,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,618.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRKR has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bruker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.86.

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.