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

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

Xerox Price Performance

NYSE:XRX opened at $2.30 on Friday. Xerox has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $9.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $294.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.21 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2.58 and a 200 day moving average of $3.50.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information technology services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.38. Xerox had a negative net margin of 21.24% and a positive return on equity of 7.57%. Xerox’s revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Xerox will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Xerox by 71.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,928,444 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,703,000 after buying an additional 1,630,999 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Xerox during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,333,000. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xerox during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,513,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Xerox by 123.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Xerox by 43.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,476,689 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $9,312,000 after purchasing an additional 746,582 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XRX. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Xerox from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.50.

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.