Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Stock Position Lifted by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,784,371 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,803 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $257,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Otis Worldwide by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,003,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,167,806,000 after purchasing an additional 149,123 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,523,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,868,000 after buying an additional 7,447,860 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Otis Worldwide by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,126,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,787,000 after acquiring an additional 95,035 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,785,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,980,000 after acquiring an additional 435,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,883,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Barclays boosted their price target on Otis Worldwide from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otis Worldwide

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $450,807.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,358.07. This trade represents a 16.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,731,934.30. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Stock Up 1.8 %

OTIS opened at $98.53 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12-month low of $89.70 and a 12-month high of $106.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.57.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is 38.42%.

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

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.