Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 91.2%, acquiring an additional 6,461 shares to hold 13,548 shares worth about $5.19 million per the latest SEC filing.
• Motorola beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $4.59 (vs. $4.35) and revenue of $3.38 billion (up 12.3% YoY), and analysts have a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of $502.50.
• Insiders have been net sellers—CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares (~$23.4M) and insiders sold 129,069 shares (~$60.78M) last quarter—while the company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.21 ($4.84 annualized, ~1.1% yield).

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,548 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $5,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Motorola Solutions by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 244,878 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $93,867,000 after acquiring an additional 27,905 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $3,254,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $7,828,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,152 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchyra Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $236,000. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MSI stock opened at $429.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $71.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.99. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $359.36 and a 1-year high of $492.22. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $452.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $417.51.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.25 EPS 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 issued a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Argus raised shares of Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $499.00 price target (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Motorola Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $502.50.

Insider Activity at Motorola Solutions

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the firm's 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 owned 7,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,362,768.36. This trade represents a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.09, for a total transaction of $23,404,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 47,167 shares in the company, valued at $22,078,401.03. The trade was a 51.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

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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