Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 298.1% in Q3 to 372,952 shares, worth $170.55 million (about 0.22% of MSI).
• Corporate insiders sold a total of 129,069 shares worth $60.78 million in the last quarter—including Gregory Q. Brown (50,000 shares, $23.4M) and Cynthia Yazdi (7,000 shares, $3.3M)—leaving insiders with 1.44% ownership.
• Wall Street is broadly bullish, with one Strong Buy, nine Buy and one Hold rating, giving an average "Buy" rating and a consensus price target of about $497.14 per share.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 298.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 372,952 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 279,270 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.22% of Motorola Solutions worth $170,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the second quarter worth about $210,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Motorola Solutions by 126.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,493 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 1,948 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $468,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Motorola Solutions by 103.8% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 163 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Motorola Solutions

In related news, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total value of $3,297,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was 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 directly owned 47,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. This trade represents a 51.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. 1.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus raised Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $499.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $497.14.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

NYSE MSI opened at $463.88 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $359.36 and a 52 week high of $492.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.35, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $427.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.20.

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

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

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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