Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,316 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,581 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.23% of Motorola Solutions worth $118,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSI. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Motorola Solutions by 196.8% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 276 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 6.9% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 685 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 10.2% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,264 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 12.6% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 803 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 1.3% in the third quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 54,412 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,813,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE MSI opened at $346.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $341.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $321.94. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $269.64 and a 12 month high of $355.39. The company has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 17.12% and a return on equity of 441.65%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 11.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other Motorola Solutions news, SVP Cynthia Yazdi sold 4,744 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.30, for a total value of $1,585,919.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,961,229.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSI has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.38.

Motorola Solutions 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.