Xerox Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:XRX)

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XRX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Xerox from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Xerox from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50.

Xerox Stock Performance

Shares of Xerox stock opened at $9.23 on Thursday. The business 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 cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -0.84 and a beta of 1.59. Xerox has a one year low of $8.02 and a one year high of $19.78. 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 (NYSE:XRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information technology services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Xerox had a negative net margin of 21.31% and a positive return on equity of 6.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Xerox will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XRX. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Xerox by 5.9% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 23,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Xerox by 2.7% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 57,500 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Xerox by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,353 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Xerox in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. 85.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.