Jennison Associates LLC Decreases Stock Position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 639,118 shares of the company's stock after selling 124,253 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Johnson Controls International worth $51,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 3.0% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 48.6% during the first quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 5,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 8.5% during the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,617 shares of the company's stock worth $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Johnson Controls International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Johnson Controls International from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded Johnson Controls International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director George Oliver sold 100,000 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $9,170,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 904,305 shares in the company, valued at $82,924,768.50. The trade was a 9.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.82, for a total transaction of $149,054.04. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 141,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,869,765.20. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,705,106 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JCI traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $109.61. 1,759,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,341,194. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $102.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.31. Johnson Controls International plc has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $110.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The company's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Johnson Controls International's payout ratio is 39.47%.

Johnson Controls International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.