Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX)

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on XRX. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $2.50 price target (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Xerox in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $2.50.

Xerox Stock Performance

Shares of XRX opened at $1.26 on Thursday. Xerox has a 12 month low of $1.26 and a 12 month high of $6.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.15 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94.

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

Xerox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.9%. Xerox’s payout ratio is currently -1.22%.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds 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 position in shares of Xerox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Williams & Novak LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xerox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

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.