Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) Stock: Insider Gregory Brown Sells 25,000 Shares

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) CEO Gregory Brown sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.14, for a total transaction of $13,153,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 66,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,129,841.66. The trade was a 27.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of MSI traded down $4.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $531.19. 778,443 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,065,343. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $359.36 and a fifty-two week high of $548.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $470.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $443.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.42 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 94.49% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.90 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Motorola Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,177 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Atticus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 632 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 0.7% in the third quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 3,235 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3.0% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 780 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MSI. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $476.00 price target (up from $470.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $525.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $545.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.