Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 8,270 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 29% compared to the typical volume of 6,426 put options.

Johnson Controls International Trading Down 7.1 %

JCI opened at $60.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.24. Johnson Controls International has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $70.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The business had revenue of $6.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.94 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,114,756,000 after buying an additional 10,522,009 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,419,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,411,000 after buying an additional 305,798 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,528,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,768,000 after buying an additional 618,120 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,063,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,724 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,491,000 after purchasing an additional 6,247,250 shares during the period. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on JCI. Argus lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. HSBC lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.50.

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.