GraniteShares Advisors LLC Invests $934,000 in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• GraniteShares Advisors opened a new position in Motorola Solutions in Q4, buying 2,437 shares valued at about $934,000 according to its 13F filing.
• Insider selling has been notable: CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares for roughly $13.6 million on March 4, and insiders have sold 129,069 shares (~$60.8M) in the last 90 days, while insiders now own 1.28% of the stock.
• Motorola posted a quarterly EPS beat ($4.59 vs. $4.35) with revenue up 12.3% year-over-year, declared a $1.21 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Buy with a $502.50 target.

GraniteShares Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,437 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $934,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSI. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 74.3% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,338,589 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $513,108,000 after purchasing an additional 570,712 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,292,310,000 after purchasing an additional 490,354 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 56.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,203,661 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $550,422,000 after purchasing an additional 435,178 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 35.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,355,159 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $568,930,000 after purchasing an additional 353,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3,126.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 297,925 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $114,201,000 after purchasing an additional 288,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Motorola Solutions

In related news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total value of $13,590,508.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 90,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,360,101.95. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 7,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,362,768.36. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of MSI stock opened at $447.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $74.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $453.99 and a 200-day moving average of $418.19.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSI shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $499.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $502.50.

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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