NEW YORK, Dec. 28, 2025, 2:40 a.m. ET — Market closed
DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (NASDAQ: XRAY) heads into the final trading days of 2025 with investors balancing three forces: year-end market seasonality, a high dividend yield that keeps income-focused buyers interested, and an analyst community that remains cautious after a 2025 marked by operational and earnings pressure.
Because U.S. markets are closed for the weekend, price discovery is effectively “paused” until pre-market trading begins Monday morning. The last actionable tape for XRAY came Friday, when shares finished at $11.52, up about 2.7% on the day, after trading roughly between $11.22 and $11.54 on volume of about 5.5 million shares. [1]
What’s new in the last 24–48 hours: the Street reiterates a cautious stance
The most notable XRAY-specific update over the past two sessions has been a fresh consolidation of Wall Street sentiment.
MarketBeat reported Friday (Dec. 26) that 15 analysts currently covering Dentsply Sirona carry a consensus rating of “Reduce” (with a mix of sell, hold, and buy calls), alongside an average one-year price target of about $15.15. [2]
That headline matters for weekend investors because it shapes expectations for how XRAY may trade when liquidity returns Monday: a “Reduce” consensus often signals that incremental buyers may demand stronger proof of improvement (or a cheaper price) before stepping in, while existing holders may be more inclined to trade rallies rather than chase them.
Forecasts and targets: the “same company, different conclusions” problem
Zooming out beyond a single outlet, the broader analyst picture still looks like a tug-of-war.
TipRanks, for example, shows XRAY with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average 12‑month price target around $13.27, with forecasts ranging from $12 (low) to $17 (high) in the most recent sampling window displayed on its page. [3]
Meanwhile, named analyst actions cited by tracking services in December illustrate why the targets cluster tightly in the low-to-mid teens:
- Jeffrey Johnson (Baird) set a $12 price target for XRAY in mid-December, according to Quiver Quantitative’s forecast tracker. [4]
- GuruFocus similarly reported Baird maintaining a Neutral stance while moving its target down to $12 from $14 (Dec. 16). [5]
Put simply: even when analysts disagree about how Dentsply gets through its operational challenges, many currently agree on where they’re comfortable underwriting the stock—roughly the low teens—until the company demonstrates cleaner execution and more dependable earnings power.
Dividend watch: what investors should know before the next session
Dentsply Sirona’s dividend remains one of the stock’s loudest features at current prices—and it’s also a source of calendar-driven trading around year-end.
On Dec. 15, the company announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share (annualized $0.64), payable Jan. 9, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 26, 2025. [6]
What that means now that the market is closed:
- The record date has passed (Dec. 26). If you were positioned by then (based on your broker’s settlement mechanics), you’re generally lined up for the Jan. 9 payment.
- Into Monday’s session, the dividend is less about “qualifying” and more about how investors value XRAY’s income stream versus the company’s execution risk.
MarketBeat’s analyst roundup also framed the stock’s yield as elevated at current levels—helpful for income narratives, but also often a sign the market is demanding a higher payout to compensate for uncertainty. [7]
The fundamental overhang: earnings miss and guidance reset still define the debate
Even when the stock pops on a given day, many professional investors are still anchoring their XRAY view to the most recent earnings trajectory and what it implies for 2026.
In its Dec. 26 roundup, MarketBeat pointed to Dentsply Sirona’s reported Q3 EPS of $0.37 versus a $0.45 consensus estimate, with revenue around $904 million, and highlighted a wider issue: full-year EPS guidance implied below what analysts had been expecting. [8]
Recent commentary around those results has been blunt. In a sector recap citing management’s perspective, CEO Dan Scavilla was quoted as saying the quarter “fell short of our expectations,” reflecting operational and strategic challenges. [9]
That combination—earnings misses plus a more conservative outlook—is typically what keeps a stock from re-rating higher quickly, even when valuation starts looking “cheap” on traditional multiples.
Insider/filing context: a director’s planned sale is on the radar
Another item investors continue to track: insider-related filings.
Reuters, via TradingView, reported that director Gregory T. Lucier filed a Form 144 in December proposing the sale of 82,200 shares (with an approximate sale date listed as Dec. 8). [10]
Insider activity doesn’t automatically equal a thesis—but in a fragile sentiment environment, investors often treat selling (or even planned selling) as an extra data point when deciding whether rallies are durable.
What to watch before Monday, Dec. 29: catalysts, liquidity, and the calendar
With markets reopening into the year-end stretch, XRAY may trade less like an isolated story and more like a passenger on the broader “risk-on / risk-off” bus—especially because holiday weeks can amplify moves on thinner volume.
Three practical checkpoints for investors heading into Monday’s session:
1) Pre-market mechanics and spreads
Nasdaq notes that investors may trade in the pre-market from 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET and after-hours from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, with the usual warnings: liquidity can be thinner and prices can gap, making limit orders more important. [11]
2) Monday’s U.S. economic calendar
Macro releases can move rates, the dollar, and overall equity sentiment—often more than company-specific news during the final week of December.
Scotiabank’s calendar lists Pending Home Sales (Nov.) at 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 29. [12]
Separately, the St. Louis Fed’s FRED release calendar shows Advance Economic Indicators scheduled for Monday, Dec. 29 (listed in Central Time on FRED). [13]
3) Holiday-week schedule considerations
End-of-year trading can be distorted by positioning and reduced participation. Investopedia’s holiday trading overview notes that markets are approaching the last schedule adjustments of the season, including New Year’s Day (Jan. 1, 2026) closures. [14]
(Translation: liquidity can be weird, and “normal” price signals are sometimes less reliable.)
The setup: what the market seems to be pricing into XRAY right now
Heading into Monday, XRAY’s storyline is less about a single breaking headline and more about a valuation-and-confidence standoff:
- Bulls point to the dividend and the possibility that operational execution improves enough to justify targets in the mid-teens.
- Skeptics point to recent earnings misses, guidance pressure, and the fact that multiple analysts remain cautious enough to keep the overall tone at “Hold/Reduce.”
Until Dentsply Sirona produces cleaner, confidence-restoring quarters—or delivers a clear strategic catalyst—the stock may continue trading as a “prove it” turnaround candidate rather than a straightforward growth story.
References
1. markets.financialcontent.com, 2. www.marketbeat.com, 3. www.tipranks.com, 4. www.quiverquant.com, 5. www.gurufocus.com, 6. www.nasdaq.com, 7. www.marketbeat.com, 8. www.marketbeat.com, 9. www.tradingview.com, 10. www.tradingview.com, 11. www.nasdaq.com, 12. www.scotiabank.com, 13. fred.stlouisfed.org, 14. www.investopedia.com
