Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $575,000 Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bruker were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,840,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $488,478,000 after purchasing an additional 594,362 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 928,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,840,000 after acquiring an additional 452,780 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 3,381,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $210,680,000 after purchasing an additional 422,100 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Bruker by 2,342.1% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 388,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,532,000 after purchasing an additional 372,400 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Bruker by 4,042.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 320,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,946,000 after purchasing an additional 312,438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $78.29 on Thursday. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $53.79 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.83 and its 200-day moving average is $76.73.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The firm had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 7.27%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.