Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Johnson Controls International Call Options (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 19,207 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,963% compared to the typical daily volume of 931 call options.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:JCI traded up $1.83 on Friday, reaching $111.85. The company had a trading volume of 4,130,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,956,660. Johnson Controls International has a twelve month low of $64.31 and a twelve month high of $112.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Johnson Controls International declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were given 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 dividend yield of 1.32%. Johnson Controls International's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.47%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other news, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of Johnson Controls International 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 trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the director owned 904,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,924,768.50. This trade represents a 9.96% 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 valued at $13,705,106 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth about $560,549,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 1st quarter worth about $219,110,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 13.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 747.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,034,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $112,154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Johnson Controls International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $112.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Johnson Controls International in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut Johnson Controls International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.11.

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.