Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 14,570 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 26.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,258 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 14,570 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Bruker were worth $2,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Bruker by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 2.3% during the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 120.4% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 399 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 0.8% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 30,911 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,972,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Bruker by 2.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,700 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $877,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $50.14 per share, for a total transaction of $5,014,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bruker Price Performance

NASDAQ:BRKR traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.65. 823,505 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,255. The business's 50-day moving average price is $59.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.06. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a 12-month low of $48.07 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 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 net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. Bruker's revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BRKR shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Bruker from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Bruker from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.09.

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.