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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 1,689 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,369% compared to the average volume of 115 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Xerox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Xerox from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Three investment 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 target price of $9.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prism Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Xerox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Xerox by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,223 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 4,224 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Xerox by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,102,688 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $9,296,000 after buying an additional 69,182 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Xerox by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 68,359 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 14,164 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Xerox by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,808,775 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,161,000 after buying an additional 62,947 shares during the period. 85.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xerox Price Performance

Xerox stock opened at $9.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 1.59. Xerox has a 1 year low of $8.02 and a 1 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 released 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). The company 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%. Xerox’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Xerox will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.06%.

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.