Magnetar Financial LLC Has $2.75 Million Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial cut its stake in Motorola Solutions by 54.5% in Q3 and now holds 6,009 shares valued at about $2.75 million after selling 7,185 shares.
• CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares on Feb. 26 for roughly $3.30 million, and insiders sold 129,069 shares (~$60.78 million) in the last quarter, leaving corporate insiders with 1.44% ownership.
• Analysts are broadly bullish — the consensus rating is "Buy" with a mean price target of $497.14 — and Motorola recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $4.59 vs $4.35; revenue up 12.3%).

Magnetar Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,009 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 7,185 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $2,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. United Community Bank lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth $33,000. Field & Main Bank bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth $38,000. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total transaction of $3,297,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $204,032.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,362,768.36. This trade represents a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSI shares. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Northcoast Research upgraded Motorola Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $499.00 price target (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $497.14.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of MSI stock opened at $462.30 on Thursday. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $359.36 and a 12 month high of $492.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $425.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.91. The firm has a market cap of $76.58 billion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.96. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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