Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) Short Interest Update

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,650,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the December 31st total of 9,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO George Oliver sold 124,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.67, for a total value of $10,292,166.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,267,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,802,081.72. This represents a 8.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marlon Sullivan sold 7,230 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.35, for a total value of $602,620.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,687,704.10. The trade was a 18.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 647,787 shares of company stock worth $53,972,452 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. State Street Corp grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,939,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,178,595,000 after purchasing an additional 300,712 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 3.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,295,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,084,000 after buying an additional 509,293 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,475,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,822,000 after purchasing an additional 71,493 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 514.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,391,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514,792 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,735,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,495,000 after purchasing an additional 249,405 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on JCI. Barclays boosted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Johnson Controls International from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.20.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 0.4 %

JCI stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.29. 1,395,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,955,208. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.63. Johnson Controls International has a fifty-two week low of $52.79 and a fifty-two week high of $87.16. The stock has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Johnson Controls International’s payout ratio is 58.27%.

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.