Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 171,806 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 39.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 602,144 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 171,806 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned approximately 0.40% of Bruker worth $41,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Bruker by 120.4% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Bruker by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in Bruker during the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 81.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bruker by 20.0% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Bruker Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ BRKR traded up $1.83 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $58.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,332,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,109,836. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.20.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.46 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. Bruker's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRKR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research cut Bruker from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.36.

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.