Xerox Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:XRX)

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Xerox by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 71,044 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 27,848 shares during the last quarter. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Xerox during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in Xerox during the fourth quarter worth $181,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Xerox by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 450,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 50,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 652,289 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 60,195 shares during the last quarter. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xerox Stock Up 4.3%

XRX stock opened at $1.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $192.25 million, a PE ratio of -0.18 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.41. Xerox has a 52 week low of $1.19 and a 52 week high of $6.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94.

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

Xerox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XRX has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $2.50 target price (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings started coverage on Xerox in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price of $2.50.

Xerox Company Profile

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.