First Trust Advisors LP Has $293.14 Million Stock Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 4.6% to 641,029 shares, representing about 0.38% of the company and worth approximately $293.14 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Analysts have been upgrading MSI and lifting targets, leaving the stock with a consensus Buy rating and a $497.14 price target; this optimism is supported by a recent quarterly earnings beat (EPS $4.59 vs. $4.35 est.) and the company’s announced $1.21 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.84, ~1% yield).

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 641,029 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 28,022 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.38% of Motorola Solutions worth $293,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 88.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 905 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 892 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSI shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Argus raised Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Northcoast Research upgraded Motorola Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $499.00 target price (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $497.14.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total transaction of $204,032.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,362,768.36. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total transaction of $13,590,508.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,360,101.95. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:MSI opened at $461.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $359.36 and a 12-month high of $492.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $423.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. Analysts predict that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

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

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