Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Candriam S.C.A. cut its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 51.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,946 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 195,838 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.12% of Bruker worth $10,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $661,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Bruker by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,725 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bruker during the 4th quarter worth $608,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Bruker by 303.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,870 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 13,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Bruker by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 15,181 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Bruker Price Performance

BRKR stock traded down $1.84 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,530,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,262,785. Bruker Co. has a 1-year low of $44.94 and a 1-year high of $94.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50 day moving average price is $54.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.60.

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Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bruker's payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Bruker from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bruker presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.50.

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.