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

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

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE JCI opened at $67.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $45.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. Johnson Controls International has a 52 week low of $47.90 and a 52 week high of $75.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.66.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Johnson Controls International’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson Controls International news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.71, for a total transaction of $82,518.57. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,344,364.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,892 shares of company stock worth $197,011. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,522,009 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,419,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $946,411,000 after purchasing an additional 305,798 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 85.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,142,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $923,804,000 after purchasing an additional 6,520,580 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,528,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,768,000 after buying an additional 618,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,491,000 after buying an additional 6,247,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.69.

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.