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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Xerox from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Xerox from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Xerox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xerox currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of XRX. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Xerox by 26.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 68,359 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 14,164 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Xerox by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,808,775 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,161,000 after purchasing an additional 62,947 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xerox by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 469,106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,869,000 after purchasing an additional 167,500 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Xerox by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 152,380 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 46,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Xerox by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 38,312 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 10,794 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.36% of the company’s stock.

Xerox Price Performance

Shares of XRX opened at $8.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of -0.79 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.70. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $8.02 and a fifty-two week high of $19.78.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information technology services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Xerox had a negative net margin of 21.31% and a positive return on equity of 6.60%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Xerox will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.06%.

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.