Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $9.27 Million Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,069 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bruker were worth $9,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Bruker by 66.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 2,484 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bruker by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 17,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Bruker by 23.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,569 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bruker by 20.0% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Bruker by 120.4% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien bought 100,000 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.14 per share, with a total value of $5,014,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,439,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,359,688.82. This trade represents a 0.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BRKR shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Bruker from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Bruker from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Bruker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bruker from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.70.

Bruker Price Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $57.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.66 and its 200-day moving average is $62.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.66. Bruker Co. has a 52 week low of $48.07 and a 52 week high of $94.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Bruker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Bruker’s payout ratio is 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.