Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Holdings Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 21.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 257,418 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 68,245 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Bruker worth $17,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 14,069 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 95.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,089 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 4,447 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,553 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bruker by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,468 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $137,702,000 after acquiring an additional 193,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Bruker by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,685 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,847,000 after acquiring an additional 14,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,439,563 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 28.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BRKR. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bruker has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.45.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $58.41. 790,809 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,130,225. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day moving average is $57.61 and its 200 day moving average is $62.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.73. 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

About Bruker

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.