New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 26,100 Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291,736 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 26,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $91,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSI. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,350,325 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $639,853,000 after purchasing an additional 37,718 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,155,597 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $674,896,000 after purchasing an additional 96,421 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,006,858 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $546,347,000 after purchasing an additional 8,514 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,841,890 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $501,436,000 after purchasing an additional 27,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,605,900 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $437,190,000 after purchasing an additional 36,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research note on Monday, March 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Motorola Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Motorola Solutions from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.38.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In other news, SVP Cynthia Yazdi sold 4,744 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.30, for a total value of $1,585,919.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,961,229.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Motorola Solutions stock traded up $4.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $349.38. The company had a trading volume of 171,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 625,159. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $339.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.90. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $269.64 and a 52 week high of $355.39.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.27. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 441.65% and a net margin of 17.12%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 11.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.48%.

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.