Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 19,207 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,963% compared to the average daily volume of 931 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total value of $77,033.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,901,741.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.86, for a total value of $188,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 106,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,719,168.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total transaction of $77,033.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,901,741.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,067 shares of company stock valued at $1,162,299 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson Controls International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 503 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JCI. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.67.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Johnson Controls International stock opened at $69.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Johnson Controls International has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $74.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.82 and its 200 day moving average is $62.95.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.92%.

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.