Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $348.38.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Motorola Solutions in a report on Friday, January 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Motorola Solutions in a report on Monday, March 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Transactions at Motorola Solutions

In other news, SVP Cynthia Yazdi sold 4,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.30, for a total value of $1,585,919.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,961,229.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $646,341,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $339,283,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $178,361,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,193,146 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $324,614,000 after buying an additional 482,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 216.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 435,149 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $105,393,000 after buying an additional 297,740 shares in the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Motorola Solutions Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MSI opened at $339.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. Motorola Solutions has a 12-month low of $269.64 and a 12-month high of $355.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $338.52 and its 200 day moving average is $318.75. The company has a market capitalization of $56.47 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.27. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 441.65% and a net margin of 17.12%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Motorola Solutions will post 11.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Motorola Solutions’s payout ratio is 39.48%.

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.