Neuberger Berman Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,109 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in Bruker were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd increased its position in Bruker by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,961,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $114,978,000 after buying an additional 1,420,102 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bruker during the fourth quarter worth about $63,378,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Bruker by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,141,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $66,930,000 after acquiring an additional 666,617 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 139.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 526,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,844,000 after purchasing an additional 306,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Bruker by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 829,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,641,000 after purchasing an additional 227,619 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Bruker Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of BRKR opened at $38.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.75. 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 capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.00, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $34.10 and a 52 week high of $90.03.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRKR. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.