Insider Selling: Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) CFO Sells $4,929,993.54 in Stock

Key Points

• CFO Jason Winkler sold 9,609 shares for about $4.93 million, reducing his direct stake by 45.91% to 11,319 shares.
• Motorola Solutions beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations: EPS was $4.69 versus $4.42 expected, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $3.38 billion.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was Buy, with an average price target of $545.70; Barclays raised its target to $598.

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) CFO Jason Winkler sold 9,609 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.06, for a total transaction of $4,929,993.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,807,326.14. This trade represents a 45.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MSI traded down $1.08 on Tuesday, reaching $526.89. 1,248,994 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,067,217. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $468.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $442.54. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $359.36 and a 12 month high of $548.28.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.42 by $0.27. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 99.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were paid a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Motorola Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 38.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSI. Barclays lifted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $529.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered Motorola Solutions from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $545.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $525.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $545.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Motorola Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 34,962 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $15,592,000 after buying an additional 12,409 shares in the last quarter. McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Motorola Solutions by 4.4% in the third quarter. McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,058 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Motorola Solutions by 6.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 308,904 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $138,928,000 after acquiring an additional 18,990 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 70.1% in the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 971 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter worth about $1,162,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides communications, software, video security and related services for public safety agencies and commercial and industrial organizations. Its products include two-way radios and land mobile radio systems, dispatch consoles, command center software, video surveillance systems and access control technology. The company's offerings are designed to help customers coordinate communications, manage incidents and support security operations. Motorola Solutions also provides services such as system integration, maintenance and technical support.

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