Empirical Finance LLC Sells 176 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% in the 3rd 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. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 3,673.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,261,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201,988 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 699.5% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,033,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,705,000 after acquiring an additional 904,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 274.2% in the third 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,127.67. The trade was a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 75,481 shares of company stock valued at $7,159,509. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on OTIS shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 target price on the stock. 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Otis Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

Otis Worldwide Stock Down 1.3 %

OTIS stock opened at $94.83 on Monday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 52 week low of $89.37 and a 52 week high of $106.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.04.

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, analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.