Empowered Funds LLC Has $3.95 Million Stock Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,389 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,605 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $3,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the second quarter worth $25,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 289.5% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 74 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC raised its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 148.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 87 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3,300.0% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 102 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $465.00 target price (down from $495.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Motorola Solutions from $490.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Motorola Solutions from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $509.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.43.

Motorola Solutions Stock Up 0.4%

MSI opened at $368.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $432.68 and a 200-day moving average of $433.26. The company has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $365.75 and a fifty-two week high of $503.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.21. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 19.08% and a return on equity of 134.30%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. Motorola Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Motorola Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Motorola Solutions news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.50, for a total transaction of $24,175,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $22,693,556. This trade represents a 51.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP James A. Niewiara sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.43, for a total value of $825,231.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,059,123.06. The trade was a 10.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 110,614 shares of company stock valued at $53,085,917 over the last 90 days. 1.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions, Inc provides public safety and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce.