Nora E. Lafreniere Sells 4,775 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Stock

Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $450,807.75. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of OTIS opened at $95.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $95.31 and a 200 day moving average of $97.04. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1-year low of $89.37 and a 1-year high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OTIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

Institutional Trading of Otis Worldwide

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OTIS. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Optas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 4.4% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in Otis Worldwide by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 1.4% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.