JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 306,282 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 139.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 526,166 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 306,282 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.35% of Bruker worth $30,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BRKR. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Bruker during the third quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 3rd quarter worth $313,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bruker in the third quarter worth $268,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Bruker by 9.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,627,300 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $250,501,000 after acquiring an additional 318,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Bruker by 0.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 94,867 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,551,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Bruker Trading Up 1.8 %

Bruker stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.76. 3,139,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,467,987. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Bruker Co. has a 52-week low of $34.10 and a 52-week high of $90.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $46.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.75.

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Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. On average, analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BRKR. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.50.

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.