Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 463 Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 8,161,946 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 58.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,349,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,871 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 699.5% during 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. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 274.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 714,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,250,000 after buying an additional 523,518 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Otis Worldwide by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,680,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,546,000 after buying an additional 391,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

OTIS opened at $103.06 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $98.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.56. The company has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 1.05. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1 year low of $90.12 and a 1 year high of $106.83.

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 the consensus estimate 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 analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.42%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

OTIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $3,588,712.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 245,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553. 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.