US Bancorp DE Sells 1,688 Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 133,179 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,688 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $60,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. United Community Bank increased its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 81.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth $33,000. Field & Main Bank bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC lifted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 148.6% during the second quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 87 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.09, for a total transaction of $23,404,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,078,401.03. This trade represents a 51.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of MSI stock opened at $471.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $408.90 and a 200-day moving average of $422.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $359.36 and a one year high of $492.22.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 110.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSI. Weiss Ratings lowered Motorola Solutions from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Motorola Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $497.14.

About Motorola Solutions

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.