Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 834,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,719 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $77,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Otis Worldwide by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Otis Worldwide by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Otis Worldwide

In other news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,390,748.57. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total transaction of $701,298.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,731,934.30. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on OTIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.88.

Otis Worldwide Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:OTIS opened at $99.97 on Thursday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a twelve month low of $90.12 and a twelve month high of $106.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.43 and a 200-day moving average of $97.98. The firm has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.05.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

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