American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 36.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 341,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 194,894 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $31,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 41.0% during the third 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. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,706,871 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in Otis Worldwide by 699.5% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,033,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,705,000 after acquiring an additional 904,157 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 274.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 714,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,250,000 after acquiring an additional 523,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 391,206 shares during the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

OTIS opened at $102.08 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a one year low of $90.12 and a one year high of $106.83. The stock has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.63.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,353,358.07. This represents a 16.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 worth $10,747,553 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research 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 on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Otis Worldwide presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

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.