Boston Partners Sells 1,257,261 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Boston Partners lowered its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 97.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,257,261 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $2,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,505,000. Custos Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $233,000. Mystic Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter worth $382,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. 88.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,353,358.07. The trade was a 16.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, 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 quarter, insiders sold 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OTIS opened at $100.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87 and a beta of 1.05. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 52-week low of $90.12 and a 52-week high of $106.83.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last issued its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. Analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OTIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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 lowered Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

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.