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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:XRX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 1,689 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,369% compared to the average volume of 115 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on XRX shares. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Xerox in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating on the stock. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.50 target price (down previously from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Xerox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xerox presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $2.50.

Xerox Price Performance

XRX stock opened at $1.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.15 million, a P/E ratio of -0.23 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.12. Xerox has a 52-week low of $1.83 and a 52-week high of $8.12.

Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) last issued 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). Xerox had a negative net margin of 14.65% and a negative return on equity of 8.26%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xerox will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xerox

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Xerox by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 450,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 50,550 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Xerox by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 652,289 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 60,195 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at $559,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Xerox by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 154,966 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 80,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in Xerox during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

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.