Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Motorola Solutions worth $46,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,528,949,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,073,645,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Motorola Solutions by 43,787.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,084,455 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $474,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081,984 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Motorola Solutions by 330.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 631,551 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $291,922,000 after purchasing an additional 484,727 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,187,217 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,933,360,000 after buying an additional 451,172 shares during the period. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Katherine A. Maher sold 1,073 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.68, for a total transaction of $449,243.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 804 shares in the company, valued at $336,618.72. The trade was a 57.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSI. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $527.00 to $511.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $570.00 to $515.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Motorola Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.25.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE MSI traded down $3.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $408.06. 382,760 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 897,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $68.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $418.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $442.01. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $370.00 and a 12-month high of $507.82.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The communications equipment provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.17. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 197.59% and a net margin of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.09 dividend. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.39%.

About Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions, Inc provides public safety and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce.