Saturna Capital Corp Cuts Stock Position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Saturna Capital Corp lessened its position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 0.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,642,128 shares of the company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Johnson Controls International makes up about 3.2% of Saturna Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Saturna Capital Corp owned about 0.40% of Johnson Controls International worth $211,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,156,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,379,562,000 after purchasing an additional 179,743 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,344,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,571,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,500 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,452,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,573 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,818,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,670,000 after acquiring an additional 343,517 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,128,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,653,000 after acquiring an additional 305,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other 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 value of $1,546,950.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 42,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,390,656.62. The trade was a 26.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.82, for a total value of $149,054.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 141,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,869,765.20. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,555 shares of company stock valued at $13,705,106 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer downgraded Johnson Controls International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $101.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.18.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 1.5%

JCI stock opened at $108.90 on Friday. Johnson Controls International plc has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $109.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $102.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Johnson Controls International’s payout ratio is 39.47%.

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.