Argent Trust Co Invests $299,000 in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Argent Trust Co purchased a new position in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,109 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRKR. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Bruker by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 134,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after buying an additional 14,069 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bruker in the fourth quarter valued at about $300,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Bruker by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,967,000 after purchasing an additional 69,806 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Bruker by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Bruker by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 214,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after buying an additional 3,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Bruker from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Bruker from $70.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bruker in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price 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. 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.com, Bruker presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Bruker Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ BRKR opened at $38.76 on Friday. Bruker Co. has a 12 month low of $34.10 and a 12 month high of $90.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.00, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical research company reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

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

Bruker 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.