Pictet North America Advisors SA Trims Stock Holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Pictet North America Advisors SA decreased its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,379 shares during the quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $8,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 183,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,123,000 after purchasing an additional 18,536 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 41.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,378,000 after purchasing an additional 229,523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,358.07. This trade represents a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $3,588,712.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 245,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,213,814.03. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 105,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,046,255 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

NYSE:OTIS opened at $97.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13 and a beta of 1.06. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1 year low of $90.12 and a 1 year high of $106.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.09.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 38.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on OTIS. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research lowered Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.