Nora E. Lafreniere Sells 1,700 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Stock

Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.91, for a total value of $163,047.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,390,748.57. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE OTIS opened at $96.61 on Wednesday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1-year low of $89.37 and a 1-year high of $106.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.09. The firm has a market cap of $38.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80 and a beta of 1.06.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 38.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on OTIS. Barclays decreased their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. UBS Group began coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otis Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Montis Financial LLC boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Otis Worldwide by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 88.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.