Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Stock Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,243 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,821 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $44,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Motorola Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions in the first quarter worth $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 289.5% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 74 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC increased its position 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MSI. Barclays lowered their target price on Motorola Solutions from $509.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Northcoast Research raised Motorola Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $465.00 target price (down from $495.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.00.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 0.8%

MSI opened at $371.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.03. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $365.40 and a one year high of $492.22. The company has a market cap of $61.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $411.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $429.93.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.21. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 118.48% and a net margin of 18.71%.The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $1.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Motorola Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Motorola Solutions’s payout ratio is 34.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other news, SVP James A. Niewiara sold 1,700 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.43, for a total transaction of $825,231.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,059,123.06. The trade was a 10.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.50, for a total value of $24,175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,693,556. The trade was a 51.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 76,700 shares of company stock worth $37,046,731 over the last quarter. 1.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.