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

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 19,207 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,963% compared to the typical volume of 931 call options.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other news, CEO George Oliver sold 10,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.14, for a total value of $866,978.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,166,992 shares in the company, valued at $98,190,706.88. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.44, for a total value of $108,621.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 148,346 shares in the company, valued at $11,339,568.24. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 719,004 shares of company stock valued at $62,950,067 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 28,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 6,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JCI opened at $88.69 on Friday. Johnson Controls International has a one year low of $56.44 and a one year high of $91.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $58.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.25.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 15.11%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Melius cut shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Johnson Controls International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $103.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.13.

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.