Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Abacus FCF Advisors increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 9.1% in Q4 to 34,855 shares worth $13.36 million, representing about 1.7% of the firm’s portfolio and its 22nd largest holding.
• Motorola beat estimates for the quarter with EPS of $4.59 vs. $4.35 expected and revenue of $3.38B (consensus $3.34B), with revenue up 12.3% year-over-year and analysts holding a consensus “Buy” and $502.50 price target.
• Insiders have been selling: CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares (~$23.4M) and insiders disposed of 129,069 shares (~$60.8M) over the past 90 days, while institutional ownership stands at ~84.2%.

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,855 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,918 shares during the quarter. Motorola Solutions accounts for approximately 1.7% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $13,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. United Community Bank boosted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 81.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 1.1%

MSI opened at $438.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $359.36 and a 52 week high of $492.22. The business's 50 day moving average is $454.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.04 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th were paid a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Motorola Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $540.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $502.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total value of $204,032.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,153 shares in the company, valued at $3,362,768.36. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.09, for a total value of $23,404,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. This trade represents a 51.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Motorola Solutions Profile

Motorola Solutions, Inc is a provider of mission-critical communications and analytics solutions for public safety and commercial customers. The company designs, manufactures and supports a range of communications equipment and software aimed at enabling first responders, government agencies and enterprises to coordinate and operate reliably in high-pressure environments. Its offerings emphasize secure, resilient connectivity and situational awareness for organizations that require dependable voice, data and video communications.

Product lines include land mobile radio (LMR) systems and handheld and vehicle-mounted radios used by police, fire and emergency medical services; broadband push-to-talk and LTE-based solutions; command-and-control center software for incident management and records; and video security and analytics systems.

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