Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $28.33 Million Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 1,933.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 410,234 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 390,057 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.27% of Bruker worth $28,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Bruker by 21.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,306,122 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $987,981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521,904 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Bruker by 127.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,389,537 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $88,666,000 after acquiring an additional 779,549 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bruker in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,472,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bruker by 123.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 555,468 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,444,000 after buying an additional 307,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Bruker by 78.3% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 593,091 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,845,000 after buying an additional 260,363 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRKR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Wolfe Research lowered Bruker from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.36.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien purchased 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company's stock.

Bruker Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Bruker stock traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $57.95. 805,902 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,114,335. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.07 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.20.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The business had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Bruker's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Bruker's payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

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.