Traders Buy Large Volume of Xerox Put Options (NYSE:XRX)

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,689 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,369% compared to the typical volume of 115 put options.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XRX. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Xerox in the third quarter valued at $29,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Xerox by 42.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,353 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Xerox during the second quarter worth about $78,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Xerox by 45.0% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Xerox by 381.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,897 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,633 shares during the period. 85.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xerox Price Performance

Shares of XRX opened at $9.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Xerox has a fifty-two week low of $8.02 and a fifty-two week high of $19.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.84 and a beta of 1.59.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information technology services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Xerox had a positive return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 21.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xerox will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Xerox’s payout ratio is -9.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Xerox from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Xerox from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xerox has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.50.

Xerox Company Profile

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.