Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,758 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,312 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,758 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of OTIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the third 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% during the third 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. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 699.5% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,033,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,705,000 after acquiring an additional 904,157 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 274.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 714,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,250,000 after acquiring an additional 523,518 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 11.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,546,000 after acquiring an additional 391,206 shares during the period. 88.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Stock Down 0.9 %

OTIS stock opened at $100.97 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12 month low of $90.12 and a 12 month high of $106.83. The firm has a market cap of $40.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.31.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. Equities analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication 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 was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 38.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 245,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,127.67. This represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.