Johnson Controls International Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 19,207 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,963% compared to the average volume of 931 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Johnson Controls International from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.43.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of JCI stock opened at $76.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Johnson Controls International has a 12-month low of $48.53 and a 12-month high of $78.23.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $7.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 6.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Johnson Controls International will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 25th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson Controls International

In related news, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.67, for a total transaction of $8,038,392.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,243,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,383,385.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.67, for a total value of $8,038,392.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,243,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,383,385.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total value of $84,899.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 143,488 shares in the company, valued at $10,438,752. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 226,327 shares of company stock valued at $16,916,720 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 85.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,142,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $923,804,000 after acquiring an additional 6,520,580 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 8.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,855,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,214,000 after acquiring an additional 479,548 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 5.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,735,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,495,000 after purchasing an additional 249,405 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 686.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,445,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,880,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 2.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,401,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,660,000 after purchasing an additional 59,274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Company Profile

Johnson Controls International plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and retrofitting building products and systems in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Building Solutions North America, Building Solutions EMEA/LA, Building Solutions Asia Pacific, and Global Products.