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

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,939 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $13,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Otis Worldwide by 485.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Otis Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $3,119,988.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,127.67. The trade was a 99.49 % 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total transaction of $701,298.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 63,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,731,934.30. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of OTIS opened at $101.41 on Tuesday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.12 and a fifty-two week high of $106.83. The firm has a market cap of $40.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.16.

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

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

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

Otis Worldwide Profile

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.