Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,750,000 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 6,240,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Bruker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Bruker by 4,636.4% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 521 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 2,324.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Bruker by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 909 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the third quarter worth $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Bruker Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of Bruker stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $52.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,145,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,638,399. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.16. Bruker has a 1-year low of $48.07 and a 1-year high of $94.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.13.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bruker in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bruker from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.50.

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.