Insider Selling: Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) CEO Sells $3,297,070.00 in Stock

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) 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. The trade was a 42.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $481.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $79.74 billion, a PE ratio of 37.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $359.36 and a twelve 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $411.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.19.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.04 earnings per share. Motorola Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Motorola Solutions from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Argus upgraded Motorola Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Motorola Solutions from $515.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Northcoast Research raised Motorola Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $497.14.

Motorola Solutions News Roundup

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Motorola Solutions

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSI. Covea Finance raised its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 111,219 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $50,859,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 261.0% during the second quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 8,073 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 5,837 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its stake in Motorola Solutions by 345.3% during the second quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 13,948 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $5,865,000 after purchasing an additional 10,816 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,345,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $615,280,000 after buying an additional 227,062 shares during the period. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Company 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.