Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 68,245 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 approximately 0.18% of Bruker worth $17,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Bruker by 139.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 361 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Bruker by 115.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 661 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 81.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Bruker Trading Down 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BRKR traded down $3.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,031,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,075,250. The firm has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.61. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $51.44 and a 1 year high of $94.86.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.