Sector Gamma AS Purchases 23,957 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Sector Gamma AS raised its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 23.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 23,957 shares during the period. Bruker comprises approximately 2.3% of Sector Gamma AS’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Sector Gamma AS’s holdings in Bruker were worth $9,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 145.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 512 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bruker in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Bruker by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bruker Stock Performance

Bruker stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $80.97. 488,537 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,653. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $53.79 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.49.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Bruker had a return on equity of 29.94% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $844.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $809.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Bruker’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BRKR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Bruker from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on 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 raised their price objective on Bruker from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Bruker from $63.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bruker news, Director Hermann Fritz Requardt sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.06, for a total transaction of $1,350,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,618.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 28.20% of the company’s stock.

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.