Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Shares Purchased by Capital World Investors

Key Points

• Capital World Investors increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 5.5% in Q3 to 9,386,519 shares (about a 5.64% stake) valued at roughly $4.29 billion, while institutional ownership stands at about 84.17% with Vanguard and others holding large positions.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — Director Kenneth Denman sold 434 shares and CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares (a 42.35% cut to her holding), with insiders offloading 129,069 shares worth about $60.78 million over the past three months.
• Motorola posted better‑than‑expected Q results (EPS $4.59 vs. $4.35; revenue $3.38B), announced a quarterly dividend of $1.21 (annualized $4.84, yield ~1.1%), and maintains a consensus analyst rating of Buy with an average target of $497.14.

Capital World Investors grew its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 490,354 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 5.64% of Motorola Solutions worth $4,292,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,171,959 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,139,015,000 after buying an additional 286,366 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,681,622 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,237,985,000 after acquiring an additional 101,408 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Motorola Solutions by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,386,899 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,839,569,000 after acquiring an additional 51,474 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Motorola Solutions by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,401,738 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,430,295,000 after acquiring an additional 27,206 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter worth $872,307,000. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was 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 $3,362,768.36. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE MSI opened at $457.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $422.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.62. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $359.36 and a 12 month high of $492.22. The company has a market capitalization of $75.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.96.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's payout ratio is presently 37.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSI. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $499.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock 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. According to MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $497.14.

Motorola Solutions Company 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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