First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 605,381 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 49,057 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $279,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 75.1% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 199,850 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $92,301,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC grew its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 67,820 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 3,136 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Motorola Solutions stock opened at $420.59 on Friday. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $332.98 and a fifty-two week high of $507.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $425.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $456.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $70.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.62, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.94.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($0.10). Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 14.58% and a return on equity of 197.59%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.09 per share. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Motorola Solutions’s payout ratio is 47.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSI. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $529.00 to $527.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Motorola Solutions from $570.00 to $515.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.25.

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.