Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $306,000 Stock Holdings in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Howard Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 13.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 590 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 5.2% in the first quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 1.2% during the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 145 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 Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George Oliver sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $9,170,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 904,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,924,768.50. This represents a 9.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,133 shares of company stock worth $13,581,520 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson Controls International Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE JCI opened at $105.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.65 and its 200-day moving average is $90.66. Johnson Controls International plc has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $112.63.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.99 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 9.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on JCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Vertical Research upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.