Cidel Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Cidel Asset Management raised its stake in Motorola Solutions by 21.1% during Q4, owning 38,838 shares worth about $14.89 million after acquiring an additional 6,777 shares.
• Significant insider selling occurred last quarter—insiders sold 129,069 shares valued at ~$60.78 million, including CEO Gregory Q. Brown's sale of 50,000 shares (~$23.4 million), leaving insiders with 1.44% ownership.
• Fundamentals and sentiment: Motorola beat Q4 EPS estimates ($4.59 vs. $4.35) with revenue up 12.3% to $3.38B, analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" with a $502.50 target, and the company declared a $1.21 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield).

Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,838 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,777 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $14,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $210,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 22.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 27.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 4.1% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other Motorola Solutions news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total transaction of $204,032.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,362,768.36. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964 over the last quarter. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $540.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $502.50.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:MSI opened at $438.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.62 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.99. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $359.36 and a fifty-two week high of $492.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $446.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.72.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 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 analysts' expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.04 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.21 per share. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's payout ratio is 37.93%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.