Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $6.19 Million Stock Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 66,824 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $6,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Otis Worldwide by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 51,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,725,000 after purchasing an additional 15,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 13,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

Otis Worldwide stock opened at $98.67 on Tuesday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.12 and a fifty-two week high of $106.33. The firm has a market cap of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.36.

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

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,127.67. This trade represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.91, for a total value of $163,047.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,390,748.57. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,046,255 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.