Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Shares Purchased by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 61.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,391 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OTIS. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 543.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Otis Worldwide by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 40.9% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 86,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,991,000 after acquiring an additional 25,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 8.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 36,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,825 shares during the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OTIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the 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 owns 245,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.91, for a total value of $163,047.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,390,748.57. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Otis Worldwide stock opened at $100.69 on Monday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1-year low of $90.12 and a 1-year high of $106.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 1.05.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. As a group, research 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 declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often 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.