Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments trimmed its stake in Motorola Solutions by 1.2%, selling 2,827 shares and now holding 238,556 shares worth about $109.0 million.
• Motorola beat expectations in the latest quarter with EPS of $4.59 (vs. $4.35 est.) and revenue of $3.38 billion (up 12.3% YoY), and analysts forecast roughly $13.55 in EPS for the fiscal year.
• Insider selling has picked up recently — CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares and insiders have disposed of 129,069 shares (~$60.8M) over the past three months, though insiders still own about 1.44% of the company.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,556 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 2,827 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.14% of Motorola Solutions worth $109,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 88.9% in the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 905 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.0% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,254 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 702.2% during the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 6,065 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,550,000 after buying an additional 5,309 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MSI opened at $457.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.04. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $359.36 and a one year high of $492.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $422.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.62.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSI. Weiss Ratings upgraded Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Argus raised shares of Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $497.14.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In other Motorola Solutions news, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total value of $3,297,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

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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