Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 5,134 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,134 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $7,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter worth $334,000. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 3,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 8,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 41,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

OTIS opened at $96.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.08. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1-year low of $89.37 and a 1-year high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 38.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otis Worldwide

In other news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,127.67. This represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 28,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total value of $2,723,698.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,153 shares in the company, valued at $22,041,752.81. This represents a 11.00 % 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 valued at $10,046,255 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on OTIS. Barclays decreased their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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 downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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, UBS Group assumed coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given 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 $102.88.

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.