Johnson Controls International Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 19,207 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,963% compared to the average daily volume of 931 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Johnson Controls International from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $61.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.71, for a total value of $82,518.57. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,344,364.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.67, for a total value of $8,038,392.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,243,751 shares in the company, valued at $90,383,385.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.71, for a total transaction of $82,518.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,344,364.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,693 shares of company stock valued at $8,489,465 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after buying an additional 10,522,009 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 85.5% during the 1st 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,514,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,962,000 after purchasing an additional 604,142 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,855,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,214,000 after buying an additional 479,548 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,485,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,167,000 after purchasing an additional 292,044 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

NYSE JCI opened at $76.59 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.60. Johnson Controls International has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $78.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.29.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced 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 net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson Controls International will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 25th. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.92%.

About Johnson Controls International

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.