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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Xerox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.50.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Xerox by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,763,679 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $132,888,000 after acquiring an additional 199,598 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xerox by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,808,775 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,161,000 after purchasing an additional 62,947 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xerox by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,812,102 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,276,000 after purchasing an additional 92,495 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,706,086 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,382,000 after purchasing an additional 94,779 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,405,471 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $11,848,000 after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

Xerox Stock Performance

Xerox stock opened at $4.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $615.13 million, a P/E ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.66. Xerox has a fifty-two week low of $4.72 and a fifty-two week high of $18.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.52.

Xerox Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -4.66%.

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.