Assetmark Inc. Boosts Holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 178.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,325 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 41.0% during 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. 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 purchasing an additional 2,706,871 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 904,157 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 523,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,546,000 after acquiring an additional 391,206 shares during the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

NYSE OTIS opened at $100.69 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 12 month low of $90.12 and a 12 month high of $106.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.73 and a 200-day moving average of $98.04. The company has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 1.05.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Otis Worldwide news, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $3,119,988.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 112,281 shares of company stock worth $10,747,553. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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