Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Stock Price

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Bank of America from $61.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.62% from the stock’s previous close.

BRKR has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup downgraded Bruker from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Bruker from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Bruker from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.89.

Bruker Stock Performance

Shares of BRKR stock opened at $41.80 on Thursday. Bruker has a 12-month low of $34.10 and a 12-month high of $72.94. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Bruker had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 2.31%. The firm had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.83 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Bruker’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bruker will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bruker

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,462,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 27.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bruker

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BRKR. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Bruker by 92.4% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 758 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Bruker by 1,354.5% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 800 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bruker in the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Bruker by 274.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.