Orbis Allan Gray Ltd Raises Stock Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. by 1.6%, acquiring an additional 11,531 shares, resulting in total ownership of 736,093 shares.
• CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 82,765 shares of Motorola stock for approximately $38.3 million, representing a 58.87% decrease in their position.
• Motorola Solutions reported earnings of $3.57 EPS last quarter, exceeding expectations, and has set Q3 2025 guidance between 3.820-3.870 EPS.

Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 736,093 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,531 shares during the period. Motorola Solutions makes up about 1.8% of Orbis Allan Gray Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd owned 0.44% of Motorola Solutions worth $322,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 25,579 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $11,199,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the first quarter worth about $181,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 19.4% in the first quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 5,352 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 6.6% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 10,701 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,685,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the first quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE MSI traded down $4.84 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $474.16. 770,337 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 918,336. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $78.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $439.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.94. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $388.90 and a 12-month high of $507.82.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.36 by $0.21. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 19.08% and a return on equity of 134.30%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.24 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Motorola Solutions has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.820-3.870 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 14.880-14.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.0109 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSI. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Motorola Solutions from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays decreased their target price on Motorola Solutions from $511.00 to $509.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $490.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $516.13.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In other news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.30, for a total value of $11,807,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,167,872.80. This trade represents a 34.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John P. Molloy sold 37,514 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.38, for a total transaction of $17,345,723.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 59,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,432,080.64. This trade represents a 38.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 162,879 shares of company stock worth $75,569,861 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

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.