Wesleyan Assurance Society Increases Stock Holdings in Bruker Corporation $BRKR

Wesleyan Assurance Society lifted its stake in Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 62.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 285,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110,000 shares during the quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society owned about 0.19% of Bruker worth $11,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BRKR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 81.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 13,367 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the 1st quarter worth approximately $378,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 216,866 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 44,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,115 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other Bruker news, Director Cynthia M. Friend sold 3,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $114,003.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,016. This represents a 16.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on Bruker and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $40.00 price objective on Bruker and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bruker from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bruker from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR opened at $39.00 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.07 and a 200 day moving average of $37.02. Bruker Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.53 and a 52-week high of $64.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.00, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.20.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The medical research company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 2.31%.The firm had revenue of $797.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Bruker’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Bruker has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.950-2.050 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bruker Corporation will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 23rd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

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.