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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 1,689 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,369% compared to the average daily volume of 115 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 2.6% in the second 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 stake in shares of Xerox by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,353 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Xerox during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Coastwise Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Xerox by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 24,075 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Xerox by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,600 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.36% of the company's stock.

Xerox Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of XRX traded up $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $9.84. 1,371,345 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,274,097. Xerox has a one year low of $8.02 and a one year high of $19.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.80. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information technology services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.26). Xerox had a negative net margin of 21.31% and a positive return on equity of 6.60%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xerox will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.17%. Xerox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XRX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Xerox from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Xerox from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Xerox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.50.

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.