First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 3,637 Shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,109 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,637 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Johnson Controls International were worth $871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners increased its stake in Johnson Controls International by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 4.9% during the third quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.4% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Johnson Controls International from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Argus downgraded Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Johnson Controls International from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.25.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

NYSE:JCI opened at $62.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.87. Johnson Controls International plc has a fifty-two week low of $47.90 and a fifty-two week high of $70.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.15.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.03. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 6.32%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.92%.

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.