Xerox Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:XRX)

Xerox Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:XRX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 1,689 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,369% compared to the typical volume of 115 put options.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of XRX. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Xerox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Xerox during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Williams & Novak LLC bought a new stake in Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Xerox in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Xerox in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 85.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xerox Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ XRX opened at $1.76 on Thursday. Xerox has a 52-week low of $1.65 and a 52-week high of $6.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $225.35 million, a P/E ratio of -0.21 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.91.

Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.25). Xerox had a negative return on equity of 8.26% and a negative net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Xerox will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio is -1.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XRX. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.50 target price (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Xerox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings started coverage on shares of Xerox in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

About Xerox

Xerox Holdings Corporation (NYSE: XRX) is a global provider of document management technology and services. The company designs and manufactures a broad range of multifunction printers, production printers, digital presses and related consumables. In addition to its hardware offerings, Xerox delivers software and workflow automation solutions, managed print services and cloud-based document platforms that help organizations optimize their information-intensive processes.

Founded in 1906 as The Haloid Photographic Company, Xerox pioneered xerographic imaging in the late 1940s, launching the first plain-paper copier in 1959.