Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,457 Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,457 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRKR. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bruker in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 360 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bruker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.78.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.89. 1,891,528 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,376. 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 company has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.26. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $53.79 and a 1-year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $721.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $729.88 million. Bruker had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Bruker’s payout ratio is 7.27%.

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.