Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stock Position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,048 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,598 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $6,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,156,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,379,562,000 after buying an additional 179,743 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 603,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,599,000 after buying an additional 141,880 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter worth $18,978,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at $603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of JCI opened at $79.64 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.64. Johnson Controls International plc has a 52-week low of $59.83 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 15.11%. Analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be paid 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 56.49%.

Insider Activity at Johnson Controls International

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on JCI. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Johnson Controls International from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut their price target 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson Controls International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.27.

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.