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

Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 1,689 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,369% compared to the average volume of 115 put options.

Xerox Stock Performance

XRX traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,368,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,153,496. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.21. The firm has a market cap of $641.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.82. Xerox has a one year low of $3.45 and a one year high of $12.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The information technology services provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.03). Xerox had a negative net margin of 21.24% and a positive return on equity of 7.57%. The company's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Xerox will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Xerox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John G. Bruno purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.38 per share, with a total value of $109,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 259,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,137,814.50. This trade represents a 10.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven John Bandrowczak purchased 22,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.48 per share, for a total transaction of $99,904.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 382,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,713,340.16. The trade was a 6.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 82,300 shares of company stock worth $364,254 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xerox

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xerox by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,763,679 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $132,888,000 after purchasing an additional 199,598 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Xerox by 2,035.4% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,682,002 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $17,784,000 after acquiring an additional 3,509,574 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Xerox by 14.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,066,576 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $9,982,000 after acquiring an additional 254,474 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Xerox by 7.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,836,657 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $8,871,000 after acquiring an additional 130,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Xerox by 37.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,575,229 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $7,608,000 after acquiring an additional 431,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.36% of the company's stock.

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.