Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stock Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,377 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $8,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,531,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,008,362,000 after purchasing an additional 119,907 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,935,585 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $553,829,000 after purchasing an additional 104,774 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,994,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,632,552 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $467,122,000 after purchasing an additional 47,331 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,443,617 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $372,035,000 after purchasing an additional 238,894 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $329.00 to $322.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on Motorola Solutions from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Motorola Solutions from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com cut Motorola Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research report on Monday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.57.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSI opened at $312.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $284.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.51, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $248.75 and a 1 year high of $312.93.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The communications equipment provider reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 668.00% and a net margin of 17.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. Motorola Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 35.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other news, CFO Jason J. Winkler sold 5,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.29, for a total transaction of $1,726,720.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,055,212.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Jason J. Winkler sold 5,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.29, for a total transaction of $1,726,720.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,055,212.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Cynthia Yazdi sold 5,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $1,790,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,156,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,506 shares of company stock valued at $23,359,370. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

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.