Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Increases Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,379 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,253 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $14,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $25,000. United Community Bank increased its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 81.3% during 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 during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 84.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MSI stock opened at $460.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The company has a market capitalization of $76.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $436.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.32. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $359.36 and a twelve month high of $492.22.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. Motorola Solutions’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.09, for a total value of $23,404,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 47,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. This trade represents a 51.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total transaction of $3,297,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $499.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “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.