L & S Advisors Inc Cuts Stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

L & S Advisors Inc cut its stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,402 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $3,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JCI. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JCI. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Johnson Controls International from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius downgraded Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Johnson Controls International from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Argus upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.27.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

Johnson Controls International stock opened at $79.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $52.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.57. Johnson Controls International plc has a 1 year low of $59.83 and a 1 year high of $91.14.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 6.83%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 1,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $171,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,967.19. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George Oliver sold 15,669 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.49, for a total transaction of $1,214,190.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,003,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,791,668.57. This represents a 1.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 905,864 shares of company stock worth $77,824,710 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% 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.