US Bancorp DE Reduces Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in Motorola Solutions by 3.1% in Q4, selling 4,169 shares and leaving it with 129,010 shares worth about $49.45 million.
• Notable insider selling: CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares (a 42.35% cut to her holdings), a director sold 434 shares, and insiders have offloaded 129,069 shares worth about $60.78 million over the past 90 days (insiders now own 1.28%).
• Company fundamentals and sentiment: Motorola beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates with 12.3% YoY revenue growth, pays a $1.21 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield), and carries an average analyst rating of Buy with a consensus price target around $502.50.

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 129,010 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 4,169 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.08% of Motorola Solutions worth $49,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 201.0% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 190 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 91.2% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 13,548 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,193,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 244,878 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $93,867,000 after acquiring an additional 27,905 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $3,254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,362,768.36. This trade represents a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,488,254.29. The trade was a 42.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $439.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $417.66. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $359.36 and a 12 month high of $492.22.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSI. Argus raised Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Motorola Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $499.00 price target (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $502.50.

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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