KBC Group NV Increases Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,366 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,686 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Bruker were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Bruker by 2.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,936 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bruker in the second quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Bruker in the second quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Bruker by 4.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 368,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,414,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 81.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BRKR shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup cut their price target 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 cut their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.45.

Bruker Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $58.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.28. Bruker Co. has a twelve month low of $48.07 and a twelve month high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.17.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The firm had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. This represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

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.