Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 298 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Bruker were worth $2,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Bruker by 120.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 4,636.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in Bruker in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bruker

In other news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.70.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $57.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.65.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Bruker’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

About Bruker

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.