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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 1,689 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,369% compared to the typical volume of 115 put options.

Xerox Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:XRX opened at $16.19 on Thursday. Xerox has a one year low of $12.06 and a one year high of $19.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -80.95 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.29.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The information technology services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.09). Xerox had a net margin of 0.01% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Xerox will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -500.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xerox by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,791,263 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $247,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464,851 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xerox by 520.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 378,129 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after acquiring an additional 317,233 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Xerox during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,194,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Xerox during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,688,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Xerox by 402.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 70,433 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 56,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Xerox from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

About Xerox

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.