Schroder Investment Management Group Lowers Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• Schroder Investment Management Group cut its stake in Motorola Solutions by 16.5% in Q3, selling 95,354 shares and now holding 482,019 shares worth about $220.4 million (≈0.29% of the company).
• Corporate insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 129,069 shares valued at about $60.8 million over the last quarter, including CEO Gregory Q. Brown’s sale of 28,435 shares for roughly $13.6 million.
• Motorola beat quarterly estimates (EPS $4.59 vs. $4.35; revenue $3.38B, +12.3% YoY), announced a quarterly dividend of $1.21 ($4.84 annualized, 1.0% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Buy with an average target of about $497.14.

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 482,019 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 95,354 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.29% of Motorola Solutions worth $220,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions during the second quarter worth about $872,307,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $230,743,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 116.5% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 841,463 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $384,793,000 after purchasing an additional 452,822 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 56.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,203,661 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $550,422,000 after purchasing an additional 435,178 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 54.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,195,796 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $502,784,000 after buying an additional 422,039 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other Motorola Solutions news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total value of $13,590,508.25. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total transaction of $3,297,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $499.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $497.14.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 1.3%

Motorola Solutions stock 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $359.36 and a fifty-two week high of $492.22. The stock's fifty day moving average is $420.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.65.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Motorola Solutions's payout ratio is presently 37.93%.

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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