Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 10,344 Shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 395.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,963 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,344 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 195.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 977.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 474 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Johnson Controls International from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.53.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Johnson Controls International stock opened at $82.52 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.92. Johnson Controls International plc has a 52-week low of $52.02 and a 52-week high of $87.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.32.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is 58.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Marlon Sullivan sold 7,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.35, for a total transaction of $602,620.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,687,704.10. The trade was a 18.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO George Oliver sold 124,497 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.67, for a total transaction of $10,292,166.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,267,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,802,081.72. This trade represents a 8.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 647,787 shares of company stock valued at $53,972,452. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Company Profile

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.