Ninety One North America Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Ninety One North America Inc. increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 87.3% in Q4 to 108,400 shares (about $41.55M), making MSI its 23rd largest holding (~1.7% of the firm's portfolio).
• Motorola beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $4.59 (vs. $4.35) and revenue of $3.38B (up 12.3% YoY), and analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with a $502.50 target (several firms raised targets, e.g., Truist $540, JPMorgan $520).
• Insiders sold a notable amount last quarter—129,069 shares worth ~$60.78M (including CEO Gregory Q. Brown selling 28,435 shares)—leaving corporate insiders with 1.28% ownership.

Ninety One North America Inc. grew its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 87.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 50,522 shares during the period. Motorola Solutions accounts for approximately 1.7% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Ninety One North America Inc. owned 0.07% of Motorola Solutions worth $41,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 2.3% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 944 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 0.6% during the third quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 0.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 2.0% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,313 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 81.3% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Motorola Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $540.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $502.50.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MSI stock opened at $441.44 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $359.36 and a 52-week high of $492.22. The company has a market capitalization of $73.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The business's fifty day moving average is $453.50 and its 200 day moving average is $418.74.

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

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were given 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 was Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total value of $13,590,508.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 90,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,360,101.95. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. Corporate 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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