Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) Stake Lifted by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 490,376 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 167,412 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $38,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,156,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,379,562,000 after buying an additional 179,743 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,344,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,571,000 after buying an additional 1,325,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,452,912,000 after buying an additional 2,150,573 shares during the last quarter. 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson Controls International by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,818,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,670,000 after buying an additional 343,517 shares during the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of JCI stock opened at $97.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.59. Johnson Controls International plc has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $98.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 6.83%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.47%.

Insider Activity at Johnson Controls International

In related news, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total value of $2,572,035.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 147,673 shares in the company, valued at $13,426,429.16. This trade represents a 16.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George Oliver sold 15,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.49, for a total value of $1,214,190.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,003,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,791,668.57. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 460,396 shares of company stock valued at $38,645,569 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on JCI. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Johnson Controls International in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research raised Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson Controls International from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $101.00 to $112.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson Controls International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.35.

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.