Allstate Corp Invests $1.14 Million in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,003,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,167,806,000 after purchasing an additional 149,123 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,523,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,868,000 after buying an additional 7,447,860 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,031,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,146,045,000 after buying an additional 152,072 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,349,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $774,863,000 after buying an additional 2,706,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $649,883,000. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Otis Worldwide

In related news, 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 transaction of $701,298.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,731,934.30. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.91, for a total value of $163,047.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,390,748.57. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OTIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. Wolfe Research downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Otis Worldwide from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

Otis Worldwide Trading Down 0.9 %

OTIS stock opened at $102.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.72. The company has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14 and a beta of 1.05. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12-month low of $90.12 and a 12-month high of $106.83.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its 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 negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.42%.

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.