Horizon Investments LLC Trims Stake in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC reduced its stake in Motorola Solutions by 28.7% in Q4, selling 4,155 shares and finishing the period with 10,299 shares valued at $3.948 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 129,069 shares worth $60.78 million over the last three months, including CEO Gregory Q. Brown's sale of 28,435 shares for about $13.59 million (a 23.86% decline in his holdings).
• Analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus "Buy" rating and an average price target of $502.50, with several firms raising targets up to $540.00.

Horizon Investments LLC lowered its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,299 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 4,155 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $3,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $25,000. United Community Bank raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 81.3% in the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $28,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Field & Main Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total value of $204,032.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964 over the last three months. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. 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. 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 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 target on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $502.50.

Motorola Solutions Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE MSI opened at $436.05 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $452.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $417.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The stock has a market cap of $72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.93. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $359.36 and a 12 month high of $492.22.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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