Neo Ivy Capital Management Cuts Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Neo Ivy Capital Management cut its stake in Motorola Solutions by 78.4% in Q3, selling 3,586 shares and retaining 990 shares valued at about $453,000.
• Motorola Solutions posted a solid quarter—reporting EPS $4.59 (vs. $4.35 consensus) and revenue of $3.38 billion, up 12.3% year-over-year—while analysts’ consensus and upgrades have pushed the average price target to about $497.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently: CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares (~$3.3M) and Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares (~$13.6M), with insiders offloading 129,069 shares (~$60.78M) over the quarter and holding about 1.44% of the stock.

Neo Ivy Capital Management reduced its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 990 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,586 shares during the quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management's holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSI. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. United Community Bank increased its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 81.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Field & Main Bank purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MSI opened at $461.11 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $359.36 and a 1 year high of $492.22. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $420.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.65. The firm has a market cap of $76.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.96.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.04 earnings per share. Motorola Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 37.93%.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In related news, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total transaction of $13,590,508.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 90,721 shares in the company, valued at $43,360,101.95. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research raised 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. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $499.00 price target (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $497.14.

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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