Prospector Partners LLC Buys 293,030 Shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 674,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 293,030 shares during the quarter. DENTSPLY SIRONA accounts for about 1.9% of Prospector Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in DENTSPLY SIRONA were worth $16,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 82.7% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in DENTSPLY SIRONA in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA stock opened at $26.29 on Friday. DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $37.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.56 and its 200-day moving average is $27.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00.

DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01). DENTSPLY SIRONA had a positive return on equity of 11.86% and a negative net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $984.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $993.61 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s payout ratio is currently -145.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XRAY has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.22.

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.