DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) Short Interest Up 31.1% in March

DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,570,000 shares, a growth of 31.1% from the February 28th total of 8,060,000 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Insider Activity at DENTSPLY SIRONA

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 15,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.51 per share, with a total value of $249,994.42. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 81,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,341.21. This trade represents a 22.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of DENTSPLY SIRONA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 222.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 26,748 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in the fourth quarter valued at $195,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 551,442 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $10,466,000 after buying an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in DENTSPLY SIRONA during the fourth quarter worth $24,571,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in DENTSPLY SIRONA by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,702 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Stock Performance

Shares of XRAY opened at $14.93 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.21, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. DENTSPLY SIRONA has a 12 month low of $14.78 and a 12 month high of $33.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.16. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. DENTSPLY SIRONA’s payout ratio is -14.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on DENTSPLY SIRONA from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of DENTSPLY SIRONA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DENTSPLY SIRONA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.33.

About DENTSPLY SIRONA

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.