Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 409,867 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,850 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.06% of Johnson Controls International worth $32,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JCI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,156,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,379,562,000 after buying an additional 179,743 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,344,374 shares of the company's stock worth $1,842,571,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,500 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company's stock worth $1,452,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,573 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,818,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,087,670,000 after purchasing an additional 343,517 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at about $568,309,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Johnson Controls International from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Vertical Research upgraded Johnson Controls International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.88.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson Controls International news, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total value of $2,572,035.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 147,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,426,429.16. The trade was a 16.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,705,106. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

NYSE:JCI traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $106.55. 2,981,953 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,322,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm's 50-day moving average is $97.76 and its 200-day moving average is $86.71. The stock has a market cap of $70.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. Johnson Controls International plc has a 1-year low of $64.31 and a 1-year high of $107.32.

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

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. Johnson Controls International's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.47%.

Johnson Controls International declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors 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.