L & S Advisors Inc Trims Stock Position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

L & S Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,402 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $3,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.3% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,743,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,242,597,000 after buying an additional 447,513 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Johnson Controls International by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,475,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,822,000 after buying an additional 71,493 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $568,309,000. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson Controls International Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of JCI stock opened at $79.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Johnson Controls International plc has a 1-year low of $59.83 and a 1-year high of $91.14.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 15.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO George Oliver sold 205,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.03, for a total value of $18,060,939.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,260,527 shares in the company, valued at $110,964,191.81. This trade represents a 14.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,421 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.44, for a total value of $108,621.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 148,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,339,568.24. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 905,864 shares of company stock worth $77,824,710. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JCI shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Melius cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.27.

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.