Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Cuts Stock Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management cut its Motorola Solutions stake by 76.6% in Q4, selling 420,952 shares and leaving 128,417 shares worth about $49.2 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares (~$23.4M) and insiders sold 129,069 shares (~$60.8M) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with roughly 1.28% ownership.
• Wall Street remains positive: Motorola Solutions beat Q earnings (EPS $4.59 vs $4.35) with revenue up 12.3%, carries a consensus "Buy" rating and an average price target of $502.50, and pays a quarterly dividend of $1.21 (1.1% yield).

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lessened its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 76.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,417 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 420,952 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.08% of Motorola Solutions worth $49,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covea Finance raised its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 111,219 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $50,859,000 after buying an additional 6,153 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,292,310,000 after purchasing an additional 490,354 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,345,492 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $615,280,000 after purchasing an additional 227,062 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSI. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial began coverage on Motorola Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $540.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $502.50.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total transaction of $204,032.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,362,768.36. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.09, for a total value of $23,404,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. This represents a 51.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Motorola Solutions Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:MSI opened at $439.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.61. The stock has a market cap of $73.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.99. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $359.36 and a 1 year high of $492.22. 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 (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.34 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.21 per share. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

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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