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

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 19,207 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,963% compared to the average volume of 931 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on JCI shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $65.00) on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TheStreet raised Johnson Controls International from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $419,897,000. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 67,792,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,907,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,990,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,890,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $124,553,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of JCI opened at $63.77 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. Johnson Controls International has a 52 week low of $47.90 and a 52 week high of $70.43.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The company had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.94 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 13.08%. Johnson Controls International’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson Controls International will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.21%.

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.