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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on JCI. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,243,751 shares in the company, valued at $90,383,385.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,344,364.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,243,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,383,385.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 114,860 shares of company stock worth $8,333,834 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,114,756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,522,009 shares in 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 buying an additional 6,520,580 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 95.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,491,000 after buying an additional 6,247,250 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter worth about $316,400,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 686.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,445,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,487,000 after buying an additional 3,880,146 shares during the period. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

JCI opened at $74.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Johnson Controls International has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $75.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.64. The firm has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.29.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson Controls International will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 25th. Johnson Controls International’s payout ratio is 59.92%.

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.