Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Increases Holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,732 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $3,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 183,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,123,000 after buying an additional 18,536 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 297.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 9,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in Otis Worldwide by 4.6% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,850,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,389,000 after buying an additional 81,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OTIS. Wolfe Research downgraded 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group began coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total transaction of $3,119,988.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,127.67. This trade represents a 99.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,927 shares in the company, 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 have sold 75,481 shares of company stock valued at $7,159,509 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

OTIS stock opened at $94.83 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1 year low of $89.37 and a 1 year high of $106.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.00.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Company 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.