Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $1,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on JCI. Melius lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Johnson Controls International in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.44, for a total value of $108,621.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 148,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,339,568.24. This represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO George Oliver sold 205,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.03, for a total transaction of $18,060,939.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,260,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,964,191.81. This represents a 14.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 905,864 shares of company stock valued at $77,824,710 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JCI opened at $82.64 on Friday. Johnson Controls International plc has a 1 year low of $59.83 and a 1 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $82.70 and its 200 day moving average is $80.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. Johnson Controls International’s payout ratio is currently 56.49%.

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.