Congress Asset Management Co. Trims Stock Position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 72.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,308 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,521 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Bruker were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Bruker by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 12,717 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the third quarter valued at about $246,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Bruker by 2.4% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,447 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,655,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Bruker by 5.6% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 42,686 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,947,000 after buying an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Bruker by 32.4% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 307,040 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $21,516,000 after buying an additional 75,220 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Bruker from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.82.

Bruker Stock Up 4.7 %

BRKR traded up $2.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.29. 2,081,036 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,345. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $64.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.92. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $55.12 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $800.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $799.44 million. Bruker had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 11.29%. Bruker's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.30%.

Bruker Company 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.