Johnson Controls International Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 19,207 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof1,963% compared to the typical volume of 931 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.69, for a total transaction of $147,447.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 140,881 shares in the company, valued at $14,607,950.89. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Anuruddha Rathninde sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.13, for a total value of $1,546,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 42,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,390,656.62. This trade represents a 26.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,266 shares of company stock valued at $1,986,931. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson Controls International

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 1.5% during the second quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 6,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Nwam LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 1.1% during the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 9,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 3.5% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 4.1% during the second quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 18.1% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JCI opened at $105.9490 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $105.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.14. Johnson Controls International has a fifty-two week low of $67.68 and a fifty-two week high of $112.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 9.53%.The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.99 billion. Johnson Controls International has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.650-3.680 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.140-1.170 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is 43.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Vertical Research upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Johnson Controls International from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lowered Johnson Controls International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.17.

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.