Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Boosts Stock Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,280 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,088 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OTIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the 3rd 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. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 3,673.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,261,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201,988 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 699.5% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,033,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,705,000 after purchasing an additional 904,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 274.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 714,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,250,000 after purchasing an additional 523,518 shares in the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on OTIS shares. UBS Group started coverage on Otis Worldwide in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.88.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE OTIS opened at $97.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $39.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $96.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.24. Otis Worldwide Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.57 and a fifty-two week high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.48% and a negative return on equity of 31.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.90%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otis Worldwide

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Abbe Luersman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total value of $909,180.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,009,391.84. This represents a 47.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.