Xerox Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:XRX)

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 1,689 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,369% compared to the average daily volume of 115 put options.

Institutional Trading of Xerox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XRX. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Xerox in the first quarter valued at $8,466,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Xerox in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,656,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xerox by 75.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 179,118 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,081,000 after acquiring an additional 76,886 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xerox during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,066,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Xerox by 27.9% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,033,506 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $10,728,000 after buying an additional 225,617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

Xerox Trading Up 0.5 %

XRX stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,200,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,205,269. Xerox has a 12-month low of $8.02 and a 12-month high of $19.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.59.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Xerox had a positive return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 21.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Xerox will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Xerox’s payout ratio is currently -9.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XRX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Xerox from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Xerox from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Xerox from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

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.