Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Xerox (NYSE:XRX)

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xerox

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XRX. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Xerox by 137.7% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,014 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Xerox by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 576,351 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 15,385 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Xerox in the first quarter valued at $83,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Xerox in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xerox during the 1st quarter worth about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

Xerox Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:XRX opened at $4.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $545.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. Xerox has a twelve month low of $3.45 and a twelve month high of $14.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.55.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The information technology services provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.03). Xerox had a positive return on equity of 7.57% and a negative net margin of 21.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. Xerox’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Xerox will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Xerox’s payout ratio is currently -4.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Xerox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xerox has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.50.

About Xerox

Xerox Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a workplace technology company that integrates hardware, services, and software for enterprises in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Print and Other; and FITTLE.