Short Interest in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Decreases By 39.3%

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decrease of 39.3% from the May 31st total of 4,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.81. 1,727,085 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,008,982. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.40. Bruker has a one year low of $53.79 and a one year high of $94.86. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. Bruker had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 13.38%. The firm had revenue of $721.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRKR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bruker by 40.7% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 858 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Bruker by 0.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 307,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bruker during the first quarter worth about $693,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Bruker by 350.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,131 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,112,000 after buying an additional 25,768 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bruker by 2,670.0% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 83,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,806,000 after buying an additional 80,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Bruker from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.