Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,228 Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Motorola Solutions stake by 1.4% in Q4, selling 5,228 shares and now holding 363,432 shares worth about $139.31 million (0.22% of the company).
• Notable insider selling: CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares and Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares, with insiders offloading 129,069 shares worth $60.78 million in the past 90 days (insider ownership 1.28%).
• Analysts remain constructive with a consensus "Buy" and average target of $502.50 after Motorola reported an EPS beat ($4.59 vs. $4.35) and 12.3% year-over-year revenue growth; several firms have raised price targets (highest at $540).

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 363,432 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 5,228 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Motorola Solutions worth $139,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,292,310,000 after acquiring an additional 490,354 shares in the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 29,701 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $13,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,462,000. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 180.3% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 19,899 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,100,000 after purchasing an additional 12,799 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 28.0% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 15,802 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $7,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,459 shares during the period. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Motorola Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $540.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $502.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other Motorola Solutions news, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. The trade was a 42.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:MSI opened at $433.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $359.36 and a 1 year high of $492.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $451.32 and a 200-day moving average of $417.06.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 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 analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.04 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 20th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

About Motorola Solutions

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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