Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 1,115 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,420 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $2,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Otis Worldwide by 485.5% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otis Worldwide during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,127.67. This trade represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $163,047.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:OTIS opened at $100.69 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12 month low of $90.12 and a 12 month high of $106.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.08. The company has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80 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 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.