Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 4,527 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,527 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $9,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,031,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,146,045,000 after purchasing an additional 152,072 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,349,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $774,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,871 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 6.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 11.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,546,000 after purchasing an additional 391,206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 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 $450,807.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $3,588,712.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 245,883 shares in the company, valued at $23,213,814.03. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,621 shares of company stock worth $10,046,255 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OTIS. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Otis Worldwide Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Otis Worldwide stock opened at $98.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.36. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 52 week low of $90.12 and a 52 week 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 negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. On average, equities analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide 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.