Should You Avoid Bruker Corporation (BRKR)?

Since Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) has encountered a decline in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of funds that elected to cut their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. Intriguingly, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management said goodbye to the biggest position of all the investors studied by Insider Monkey, worth close to $5.7 million in stock, and Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $3.7 million worth of shares.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD), Healthcare Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:HR), Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX), and ON Semiconductor Corp (NASDAQ:ON). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to BRKR’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 investors with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $305 million. That figure was $294 million in BRKR’s case. Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD) is the most popular stock in this table, while Healthcare Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:HR) is the least popular one with only six bullish hedge fund positions. Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD) might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.