Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $173.64 Million Stock Position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 379,716 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 10,403 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.23% of Motorola Solutions worth $173,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Motorola Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. United Community Bank grew its position 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 buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Motorola Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Field & Main Bank acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Motorola Solutions Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $481.37 on Monday. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $359.36 and a 12-month high of $492.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $411.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 110.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Motorola Solutions

Here are the key news stories impacting Motorola Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend announced: Motorola declared a $1.21 quarterly dividend (record March 20; pay April 15), implying a ~1.0% yield. Small recurring cash return and signal of capital-return policy stability.
• Negative Sentiment: Large CEO insider selling — Gregory Q. Brown: recent SEC filings show multiple sizable sales, including 50,000 shares (~$23.4M, Feb. 24) and additional blocks on Feb. 25–26 (see filings). These trades reduced his holdings materially and may weigh on sentiment given the scale. CEO 50,000-share sale filing CEO additional sale filing CEO sales filing
• Negative Sentiment: Other insider sales: CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares (~$3.3M) and director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares (~$204k) in late-February filings — further insider supply hitting the market. Cynthia Yazdi filing Kenneth Denman filing
• Negative Sentiment: Press coverage flagged the CEO’s sales (summary article). Media attention on large insider disposal can amplify negative investor reaction even if sales are for diversification or liquidity. Insider selling article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.12, for a total transaction of $204,032.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,153 shares in the company, valued at $3,362,768.36. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total transaction of $3,297,070.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,634 shares of company stock valued at $47,189,456. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSI shares. Weiss Ratings cut Motorola Solutions from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Motorola Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $499.00 target price (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $497.14.

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.