Driehaus Capital Management LLC Sells 454 Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,211 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 454 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Motorola Solutions by 29.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 723,835 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $325,455,000 after buying an additional 165,353 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,717 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 10,096 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $320,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in Motorola Solutions by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 36,236 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSI shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $527.00 to $511.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Motorola Solutions from $570.00 to $515.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.25.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSI opened at $405.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $421.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $451.71. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $356.30 and a 12 month high of $507.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.02, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.98.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The communications equipment provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.17. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 14.58% and a return on equity of 197.59%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.39%.

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.