GWN Securities Inc. Takes Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 152,072 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,349,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,871 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings 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. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,546,000 after purchasing an additional 391,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.88.

Insider Activity

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $3,119,988.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

NYSE OTIS opened at $100.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.11. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 52-week low of $90.12 and a 52-week high of $106.83.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.42%.

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