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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XRX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Xerox from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.50.

Xerox Trading Down 10.4%

Xerox stock opened at $2.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $288.09 million, a PE ratio of -0.21 and a beta of 1.72. Xerox has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $9.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information technology services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.38. Xerox had a negative net margin of 21.24% and a positive return on equity of 7.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Xerox will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.28%.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Xerox during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Xerox during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Sage Rhino Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xerox in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Xerox by 330.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,658 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 8,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xerox during the second quarter worth about $57,000. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.