Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) CEO Sells $23,404,500.00 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO Gregory Brown sold 50,000 shares at an average price of $468.09 for a total of $23,404,500, reducing his stake by 51.46% to 47,167 shares (disclosed in an SEC Form 4).
• Motorola Solutions beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $4.59 (vs. $4.35 expected) and revenue of $3.38 billion (vs. $3.34 billion), with revenue up 12.3% year-over-year and analysts holding a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average target of $497.14.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.21 ($4.84 annualized) with an ex-dividend and record date of March 20 and payment on April 15, implying a ~1.0% yield.

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) CEO Gregory Brown sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. The trade was a 51.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Motorola Solutions Stock Up 0.0%

Motorola Solutions stock opened at $471.48 on Friday. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $359.36 and a 1-year high of $492.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $408.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.00.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a $1.21 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Motorola Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSI. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth about $25,000. United Community Bank boosted its position in Motorola Solutions by 81.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Northcoast Research raised Motorola Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $497.14.

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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