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

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,732 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the period. 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 hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its stake in Otis Worldwide by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of Otis Worldwide stock opened at $94.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.00. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1 year low of $89.37 and a 1 year high of $106.33. The company has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Otis Worldwide

In related news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,127.67. This represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 245,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,481 shares of company stock worth $7,159,509. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on OTIS shares. 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 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 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 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

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.