DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $12.49, but opened at $13.12. Bank of America now has a $17.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $13.00. DENTSPLY SIRONA shares last traded at $12.7270, with a volume of 1,296,946 shares.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research lowered DENTSPLY SIRONA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $13.00 target price on DENTSPLY SIRONA in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other DENTSPLY SIRONA news, Director Gregory T. Lucier sold 82,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total transaction of $915,708.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DENTSPLY SIRONA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XRAY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,006,576 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $279,263,000 after buying an additional 869,566 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 14,640,555 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $167,342,000 after acquiring an additional 458,744 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 109.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,316,771 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $211,470,000 after acquiring an additional 6,970,086 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 0.9% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,200,525 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $129,445,000 after acquiring an additional 92,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC boosted its holdings in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 7,298,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $83,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,000 shares during the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Stock Up 1.7%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of -2.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.47.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s dividend payout ratio is -14.48%.

About DENTSPLY SIRONA

Dentsply Sirona Inc (NASDAQ: XRAY) is a leading global manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. The company, formed through the merger of Dentsply International and Sirona Dental Systems in February 2016, brings together a long heritage of innovation in dental care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dentsply Sirona develops and markets a comprehensive range of dental consumables, laboratory products, and advanced imaging and CAD/CAM systems.

The company’s product portfolio spans preventive, restorative, orthodontic, endodontic and surgical care.