DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,044,228 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,505,928 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 4.05% of DENTSPLY SIRONA worth $152,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 648.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,422 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,492 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 700.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares during the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Stock Down 0.6%

DENTSPLY SIRONA stock opened at $15.81 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.54. DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.16 and a twelve month high of $28.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.64, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.14. DENTSPLY SIRONA had a negative net margin of 10.59% and a positive return on equity of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $879.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $854.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on XRAY. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered DENTSPLY SIRONA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.27.

Insider Activity at DENTSPLY SIRONA

In related news, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 15,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.51 per share, for a total transaction of $249,994.42. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 81,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,341.21. This trade represents a 22.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.