Xerox Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:XRX)

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 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.

Xerox Trading Down 0.1 %

XRX stock opened at $16.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Xerox has a 12-month low of $12.06 and a 12-month high of $19.78. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.90 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.65 and its 200 day moving average is $16.29.

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

Xerox Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Xerox by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,981,297 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $292,937,000 after purchasing an additional 190,034 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Xerox by 15.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,540,136 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $239,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,262 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Xerox by 4.5% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,240,257 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $97,910,000 after purchasing an additional 271,302 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Xerox by 1.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,790,757 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $74,965,000 after acquiring an additional 52,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Xerox by 5.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,435,033 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 133,551 shares in the last quarter. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on XRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Xerox from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Xerox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.