Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,345,551 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 212,555 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $124,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 558,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,684,000 after acquiring an additional 12,310 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Otis Worldwide by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 5,159,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,785,000 after acquiring an additional 60,564 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at about $824,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter worth about $10,806,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Otis Worldwide from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

Otis Worldwide Stock Down 9.1 %

Shares of NYSE OTIS opened at $94.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.96. Otis Worldwide Co. has a twelve month low of $90.12 and a twelve month high of $106.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 1.00.

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 negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,127.67. The trade was a 99.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $450,807.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,358.07. This represents a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.