Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 21.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,665 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $2,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,171,959 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,139,015,000 after purchasing an additional 286,366 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,681,622 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,237,985,000 after buying an additional 101,408 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Motorola Solutions by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,386,899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,839,569,000 after buying an additional 51,474 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,401,738 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,430,295,000 after buying an additional 27,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $872,307,000. 84.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $463.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $76.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.32, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $359.36 and a 1 year high of $492.22. The company’s fifty day moving average is $424.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.64.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 110.75%. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.21 per share. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSI has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Barclays raised their target price on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Northcoast Research raised Motorola Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $497.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Motorola Solutions news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total value of $13,590,508.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,360,101.95. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total value of $204,032.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,362,768.36. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. 1.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Motorola Solutions Profile

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.