DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

XRAY has been the topic of several other reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on DENTSPLY SIRONA in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research cut their target price on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $35.22.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Stock Performance

Shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA stock opened at $28.25 on Friday. DENTSPLY SIRONA has a 12 month low of $26.27 and a 12 month high of $41.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.69.

DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. DENTSPLY SIRONA had a negative net margin of 2.41% and a positive return on equity of 11.54%. The company had revenue of $953.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $969.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that DENTSPLY SIRONA will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from DENTSPLY SIRONA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -145.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DENTSPLY SIRONA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in DENTSPLY SIRONA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,207,000. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 11,603,889 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $412,982,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702,457 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 6,598,211 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $234,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,012 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,138,253 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $289,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 7,061,910 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $251,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,922 shares in the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Company Profile

DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc manufactures and sells various dental products and technologies worldwide. It operates in four segments: Connected Technology Solutions, Essential Dental Solutions, Orthodontic and Implant Solutions, and Wellspect Healthcare. The company offers dental equipment comprising imaging equipment, motorized dental handpieces, treatment centers, other instruments, amalgamators, mixing machines, and porcelain furnaces; and dental CAD/CAM technologies to support dental restorations, such as intraoral scanners, 3-D printers, mills, other software and services, and a full-chairside economical restoration of esthetic ceramic dentistry, as well as DS Core, its cloud-based platform.