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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after buying an additional 10,522,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at about $419,897,000. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 67,792,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,907,557,000 after buying an additional 4,096,187 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,990,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,398,000 after buying an additional 2,890,395 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at about $124,553,000. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

NYSE JCI opened at $63.69 on Thursday. Johnson Controls International has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $70.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $43.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.29.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson Controls International will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on JCI shares. Argus lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.08.

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.