Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $61.87 and traded as high as $62.46. Bruker shares last traded at $61.25, with a volume of 867,430 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.45.

Bruker Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.63 and a 200 day moving average of $61.87. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.17.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Bruker by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 30,911 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,972,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 2.1% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,700 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bruker by 7.3% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,553 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Bruker by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 94,867 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,551,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Bruker by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,729 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% 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.