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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:XRX) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 1,689 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,369% compared to the typical daily volume of 115 put options.

Xerox Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XRX opened at $2.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.18 million, a P/E ratio of -0.31 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.22. Xerox has a twelve month low of $1.19 and a twelve month high of $6.80.

Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information technology services provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.09. Xerox had a negative return on equity of 12.08% and a negative net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Xerox will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $2.50 price objective (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Xerox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xerox in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $2.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Xerox by 339.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,294,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $22,028,000 after acquiring an additional 7,178,915 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Xerox during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,333,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Xerox by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,498,232 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $8,291,000 after acquiring an additional 854,119 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Xerox by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,528,219 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,746,000 after acquiring an additional 843,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Xerox by 104.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,585,215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 809,861 shares during the last quarter. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.