Ninety One UK Ltd Buys 570,712 Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 74.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,338,589 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 570,712 shares during the period. Motorola Solutions accounts for 1.1% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $513,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covea Finance increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 111,219 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,859,000 after buying an additional 6,153 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,292,310,000 after buying an additional 490,354 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,345,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $615,280,000 after buying an additional 227,062 shares in the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,462,000. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 29,701 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,582,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSI shares. Wall Street Zen raised Motorola Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 12th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $499.00 target price (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $502.50.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MSI opened at $441.44 on Friday. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $359.36 and a 52 week high of $492.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The company has a market capitalization of $73.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $453.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $418.74.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 was Friday, March 20th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Motorola Solutions news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 7,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,362,768.36. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Motorola Solutions 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.