Covea Finance Buys 8,810 Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Covea Finance grew its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 120,029 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,810 shares during the period. Motorola Solutions comprises 1.5% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Covea Finance’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $46,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Motorola Solutions by 2.3% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 944 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 498 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,313 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total transaction of $13,590,508.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 90,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,360,101.95. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of Motorola Solutions stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,069 shares of company stock valued at $60,779,964. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MSI stock opened at $452.67 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $437.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $423.18. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $359.36 and a 12-month high of $492.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The firm has a market cap of $74.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.96.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 37.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Motorola Solutions Profile

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.