Jump Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 34,228 Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 34,228 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,006,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Bruker by 11.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,272,000 after buying an additional 14,069 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Bruker in the 4th quarter valued at $300,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bruker by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Bruker by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $57,967,000 after purchasing an additional 69,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Bruker by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BRKR. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.00.

Bruker Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR traded up $1.00 on Thursday, hitting $38.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 407,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,514. Bruker Co. has a one year low of $34.10 and a one year high of $83.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Bruker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.