Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $504.88.

MSI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $425.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $467.00 to $529.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Motorola Solutions from $430.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Motorola Solutions during the second quarter worth about $308,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 871.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 68 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 0.4% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 45,708 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,646,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 18.0% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,583 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 7.7% during the second quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MSI opened at $469.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.25. Motorola Solutions has a 52 week low of $307.09 and a 52 week high of $507.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.47, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $479.11 and a 200-day moving average of $436.52.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 251.96% and a net margin of 14.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions will post 12.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.09 dividend. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from Motorola Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.75%.

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.