BNP Paribas Financial Markets Decreases Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its Motorola Solutions stake by 31.9% in Q3, selling 86,883 shares and leaving 185,079 shares valued at about $84.6 million (≈0.11% of the company).
• Several large institutions either initiated or expanded positions — notably Norges Bank (~$872 million new stake), Marshall Wace (~$231 million), and Capital World Investors (now 9.39 million shares worth ~$4.29 billion) — and institutional investors own about 84.17% of MSI.
• Fundamentals and insider activity: Motorola beat quarterly EPS estimates ($4.59 vs. $4.35) with revenue up 12.3% y/y, declared a $1.21 quarterly dividend, and insiders sold 129,069 shares in the quarter including CEO Gregory Q. Brown’s sale of 50,000 shares.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,079 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 86,883 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.11% of Motorola Solutions worth $84,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $872,307,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth $230,743,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,292,310,000 after purchasing an additional 490,354 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 116.5% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 841,463 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $384,793,000 after buying an additional 452,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 56.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,203,661 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $550,422,000 after buying an additional 435,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:MSI opened at $463.88 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $427.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.20. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $359.36 and a 1-year high of $492.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 110.75%. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 37.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.09, for a total transaction of $23,404,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. This represents a 51.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,362,768.36. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Argus raised shares of Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $499.00 target price (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $497.14.

About Motorola Solutions

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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