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

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

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

Shares of JCI stock opened at $80.06 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.74 and its 200-day moving average is $75.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.32. Johnson Controls International has a 1 year low of $51.71 and a 1 year high of $87.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Johnson Controls International from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marlon Sullivan sold 7,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.35, for a total value of $602,620.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,687,704.10. This trade represents a 18.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO George Oliver sold 110,616 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.60, for a total value of $9,358,113.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,244,617 shares in the company, valued at $105,294,598.20. This represents a 8.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 758,588 shares of company stock valued at $62,480,987. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson Controls International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,939,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,178,595,000 after purchasing an additional 300,712 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 3.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,295,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,084,000 after purchasing an additional 509,293 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,475,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,822,000 after buying an additional 71,493 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,855,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,214,000 after buying an additional 479,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 514.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,391,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,514,792 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.