Empirical Finance LLC Decreases Stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OTIS. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 183,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,123,000 after acquiring an additional 18,536 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 297.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 9,979 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,378,000 after purchasing an additional 229,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Otis Worldwide

In other news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $450,807.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,358.07. The trade was a 16.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at $16,127.67. This trade represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,481 shares of company stock valued at $7,159,509. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Otis Worldwide Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE OTIS opened at $94.83 on Monday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12 month low of $89.37 and a 12 month high of $106.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.04. The stock has a market cap of $37.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. As a group, analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 38.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on OTIS shares. Wolfe Research downgraded 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.88.

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.