Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Raises Stock Position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,129,418 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,146 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $73,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JCI. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 59,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,437,000 after acquiring an additional 12,694 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 102.9% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 4,822 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter valued at $389,000. Finally, Navalign LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 16,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total value of $77,033.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,901,741.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total transaction of $77,033.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,901,741.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 9,342 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $611,901.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,259. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,067 shares of company stock worth $1,163,404 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

NYSE JCI traded up $2.05 on Friday, reaching $68.77. The company had a trading volume of 4,794,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,728,913. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.92. Johnson Controls International plc has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $74.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.03. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group cut shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.23.

Johnson Controls International 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.