Fred Alger Management LLC Takes $2.62 Million Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,933 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,620,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRKR. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 5.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 28,428 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Bruker during the 3rd quarter worth $311,000. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Bruker during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,632,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Bruker by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 304,755 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $21,046,000 after purchasing an additional 38,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Bruker by 1,933.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 410,234 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,331,000 after buying an additional 390,057 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of Bruker stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $58.37. 831,875 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,113,126. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.63 and a 200-day moving average of $63.91. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $48.07 and a 1 year high of $94.86.

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

Bruker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.62%.

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.