Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 2,176 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 109.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,163 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 485.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Otis Worldwide during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 88.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE OTIS opened at $101.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.16. Otis Worldwide Co. has a twelve month low of $90.12 and a twelve month high of $106.83. The company has a market capitalization of $40.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.05.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on OTIS shares. Wolfe Research lowered Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otis Worldwide

In other news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,127.67. This trade represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at $6,731,934.30. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.