Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Stock Position Cut by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Riverbridge Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,130 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,183 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $25,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bahl & Gaynor LLC increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC now owns 398,125 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $177,552,000 after purchasing an additional 34,851 shares in the last quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC boosted its position in Motorola Solutions by 8.0% in the third quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 758 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Motorola Solutions by 6.7% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,233 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its position in Motorola Solutions by 310.5% in the third quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 78 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 71 West Capital Partners grew its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 4.5% during the third quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 1,916 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Motorola Solutions news, SVP James A. Niewiara sold 2,086 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.35, for a total transaction of $1,089,622.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,195.30. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John P. Molloy sold 40,982 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.45, for a total value of $21,083,189.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 69,330 shares in the company, valued at $35,666,818.50. The trade was a 37.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 156,418 shares of company stock valued at $80,087,836 over the last ninety days. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Motorola Solutions Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:MSI opened at $526.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $469.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $359.36 and a one year high of $548.28. The company has a market cap of $87.11 billion, a PE ratio of 42.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.86.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.42 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 94.49%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th were paid a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Motorola Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 38.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSI. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $530.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $476.00 price objective (up from $470.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Northcoast Research raised their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $510.00 to $525.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $550.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Motorola Solutions from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.70.

Key Motorola Solutions News

Here are the key news stories impacting Motorola Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Motorola Solutions beat Q3 earnings expectations, raised its guidance and reported a record backlog. Its shares gained roughly 7% following the results, contrasting with a sharp post-earnings decline for competitor Axon. Axon vs. Motorola: Which Public Safety Stock Has More Upside After Q3 Earnings?
• Negative Sentiment: Several senior leaders reported selling shares in transactions on November 6 and 9. CEO Gregory Brown sold about 70,800 shares, while the CFO, COO and multiple senior vice presidents also reported sales—about 141,000 shares combined. Such sizable insider selling can concern investors, though the filings alone do not establish the reason for the sales. CEO Form 4 filing CFO Form 4 filing COO Form 4 filing

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides communications, software, video security and related services for public safety agencies and commercial and industrial organizations. Its products include two-way radios and land mobile radio systems, dispatch consoles, command center software, video surveillance systems and access control technology. The company’s offerings are designed to help customers coordinate communications, manage incidents and support security operations. Motorola Solutions also provides services such as system integration, maintenance and technical support.