Virtu Financial LLC Raises Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 44.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,705 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OTIS. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Otis Worldwide by 485.5% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Otis Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Otis Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Otis Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Otis Worldwide in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on OTIS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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 cut 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their price objective on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $3,588,712.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 245,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,213,814.03. The trade was a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $450,807.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,358.07. The trade was a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of OTIS opened at $100.97 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87 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 announced its 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, research analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

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

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

Otis Worldwide Company 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.