Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $1.82 Million Stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,102 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $1,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO George Oliver sold 205,168 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.03, for a total value of $18,060,939.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,260,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,964,191.81. This trade represents a 14.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.72, for a total value of $113,361.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 145,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,599,419.44. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 907,286 shares of company stock valued at $77,938,071. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Trading Up 0.1 %

JCI stock opened at $81.16 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.93. Johnson Controls International plc has a fifty-two week low of $59.83 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 6.83%. Analysts expect that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Johnson Controls International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Johnson Controls International from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.07.

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.