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

Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $466.17.

A number of research analysts have commented on MSI shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $372.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Motorola Solutions from $370.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Motorola Solutions from $436.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Motorola Solutions Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MSI opened at $473.46 on Wednesday. Motorola Solutions has a 52-week low of $271.73 and a 52-week high of $477.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.52, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $438.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $394.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 337.36% and a net margin of 14.04%. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Motorola Solutions will post 12.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other news, COO John P. Molloy sold 23,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.50, for a total transaction of $9,773,887.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 46,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,079,557.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Motorola Solutions

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 215.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,023,956 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $395,298,000 after buying an additional 699,615 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in Motorola Solutions by 38,505.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 696,434 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $268,858,000 after acquiring an additional 694,630 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $178,361,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 428.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 501,601 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $193,798,000 after purchasing an additional 406,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 36.5% during the first quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,478,757 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $524,929,000 after purchasing an additional 395,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

About Motorola Solutions

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.