Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $506.4286.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $509.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $490.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $465.00 price target (down from $495.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Friday, October 31st.

Insider Activity at Motorola Solutions

In related news, SVP James A. Niewiara sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.43, for a total transaction of $825,231.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,542 shares in the company, valued at $7,059,123.06. This represents a 10.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Rajan Naik sold 8,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.45, for a total transaction of $3,802,242.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,860,265.80. The trade was a 43.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 110,614 shares of company stock valued at $53,085,917 over the last ninety days. 1.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSI. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. United Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 81.3% in the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Motorola Solutions stock opened at $371.10 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $437.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $433.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $61.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions has a one year low of $368.17 and a one year high of $503.62.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.21. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 134.30% and a net margin of 19.08%.The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Motorola Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 34.99%.

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

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.