Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 390,057 Shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 1,933.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 410,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 390,057 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Bruker were worth $28,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Bruker by 21.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,306,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $987,981,000 after buying an additional 2,521,904 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Bruker by 127.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,389,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $88,666,000 after purchasing an additional 779,549 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 8.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,277,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,508,000 after purchasing an additional 101,539 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Bruker by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 966,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $61,645,000 after purchasing an additional 27,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Bruker by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 899,638 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,129,000 after purchasing an additional 94,612 shares in the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bruker Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:BRKR opened at $58.38 on Friday. Bruker Co. has a 1 year low of $48.07 and a 1 year high of $94.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.20.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Bruker had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The company had revenue of $864.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current 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 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,359,688.82. The trade was a 0.26 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRKR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Bruker from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bruker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.36.

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.