Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 882 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 882 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,031,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,146,045,000 after buying an additional 152,072 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,349,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $774,863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,871 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,378,000 after acquiring an additional 229,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Otis Worldwide by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,546,000 after acquiring an additional 391,206 shares during the period. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on OTIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE OTIS opened at $98.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.70 and a 200-day moving average of $97.36. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1-year low of $90.12 and a 1-year high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last announced 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 net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.91, for a total transaction of $163,047.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 28,440 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total value of $2,723,698.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,041,752.81. The trade was a 11.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,621 shares of company stock worth $10,046,255 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.