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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:XRX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 1,689 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,369% compared to the average daily volume of 115 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XRX has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings began coverage on Xerox in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Xerox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $2.50 price target (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Williams & Novak LLC bought a new position in shares of Xerox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Xerox during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Xerox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in Xerox in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Xerox Trading Down 3.4%

Xerox stock opened at $1.97 on Thursday. Xerox has a 52-week low of $1.86 and a 52-week high of $8.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.24 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.07.

Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) last released 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 net margin of 14.65% and a negative return on equity of 8.26%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Xerox will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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.