Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) CEO Gregory Brown Sells 70,780 Shares of Company Stock

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) CEO Gregory Brown sold 70,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.14, for a total value of $36,390,829.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 66,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,328,613.66. This trade represents a 51.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

NYSE MSI traded down $1.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $526.89. 1,248,994 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,067,217. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $359.36 and a 1-year high of $548.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $468.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $442.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $87.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Motorola Solutions

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,849,952 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,269,332,000 after acquiring an additional 323,725 shares in the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the first quarter worth about $983,432,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 1.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,600,491 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $694,565,000 after purchasing an additional 30,264 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,381,506 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $599,532,000 after buying an additional 352,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Motorola Solutions by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,244,326 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $539,958,000 after purchasing an additional 59,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSI shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $529.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $530.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.70.

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.