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

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 19,207 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,963% compared to the average daily volume of 931 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson Controls International

In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 3,000 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.86, for a total transaction of $188,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 106,891 shares in the company, valued at $6,719,168.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.86, for a total transaction of $188,580.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 106,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,719,168.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Juergen Tinggren sold 4,000 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $249,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,876,777.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,272 shares of company stock worth $1,108,229. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company's stock worth $4,114,756,000 after purchasing an additional 10,522,009 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 85.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,142,736 shares of the company's stock worth $923,804,000 after acquiring an additional 6,520,580 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $833,491,000 after acquiring an additional 6,247,250 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth $316,400,000. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter worth $124,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

NYSE JCI traded up $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $68.27. The stock had a trading volume of 5,773,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,639,458. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $45.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The business's 50-day moving average price is $64.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.20. Johnson Controls International has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $70.43.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.03. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson Controls International will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Johnson Controls International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Johnson Controls International from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. HSBC cut Johnson Controls International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Argus cut shares of Johnson Controls International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.00.

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.