Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 149,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,939 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $13,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in Otis Worldwide by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in Otis Worldwide by 4.4% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Insider Activity at Otis Worldwide

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $3,588,712.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 245,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at $6,731,934.30. The trade was a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 0.8 %

OTIS stock opened at $101.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.16. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12-month low of $90.12 and a 12-month high of $106.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.05.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. On average, research analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Otis Worldwide

Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects.