Xerox Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:XRX)

Xerox Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:XRX) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,689 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,369% compared to the average volume of 115 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. S Harris Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Xerox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Xerox during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Williams & Novak LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. purchased a new stake in Xerox during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 85.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xerox Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Xerox stock opened at $1.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $181.82 million, a PE ratio of -0.17 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.75. Xerox has a 1 year low of $1.34 and a 1 year high of $6.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $2.50 target price (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings began coverage on shares of Xerox in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xerox has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $2.50.

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.