Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Shares Bought by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 428,732 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Motorola Solutions comprises about 0.7% of Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Groupama Asset Managment owned about 0.26% of Motorola Solutions worth $196,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. United Community Bank increased its stake in Motorola Solutions by 81.3% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 58 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth about $28,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Motorola Solutions stock opened at $467.24 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $434.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.06. The stock has a market cap of $77.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $359.36 and a 12-month high of $492.22.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.Motorola Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $497.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Motorola Solutions news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 $43,360,101.95. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total transaction of $204,032.08. Following the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964 over the last 90 days. 1.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.