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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:XRX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 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.

Xerox Stock Down 2.1%

Xerox stock opened at $1.42 on Thursday. 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 cap of $181.82 million, a P/E ratio of -0.17 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $2.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.75. Xerox has a twelve month low of $1.34 and a twelve month high of $6.80.

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

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. Xerox’s payout ratio is currently -1.22%.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Xerox during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,513,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Xerox in the third quarter worth $4,333,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Xerox in the third quarter worth $1,871,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Xerox by 275.7% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 255,861 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 187,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 71.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,928,444 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,999 shares during the last quarter. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on XRX. Zacks Research cut Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings started coverage on Xerox in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.50 price objective (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average 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.