Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 224 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of OTIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% during the third 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 during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 699.5% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,033,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,705,000 after buying an additional 904,157 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 274.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 714,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,250,000 after buying an additional 523,518 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 11.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,546,000 after buying an additional 391,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OTIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. 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. Barclays dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Otis Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of OTIS opened at $102.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27 and a beta of 1.05. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12-month low of $90.12 and a 12-month high of $106.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.71.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.42%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $3,588,712.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 245,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,213,814.03. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,358.07. This trade represents a 16.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 company insiders.

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.