Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,818 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $1,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 132.0% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Anuruddha Rathninde sold 15,000 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.13, for a total transaction of $1,546,950.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 42,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,390,656.62. This trade represents a 26.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.91, for a total value of $123,586.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 144,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,576,224.64. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,669,414. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on JCI. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Vertical Research upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.88.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JCI opened at $103.49 on Friday. Johnson Controls International plc has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $104.15. The firm has a market cap of $68.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.74.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 6.83%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Johnson Controls International’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is 39.47%.

Johnson Controls International 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.