Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $504.88.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $430.00 to $495.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lifted their price objective 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 increased their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $467.00 to $529.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $440.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Motorola Solutions

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 59,189.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 967,604 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $435,064,000 after purchasing an additional 965,972 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Motorola Solutions by 4,447.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 584,901 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $262,989,000 after buying an additional 572,040 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 477.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 311,659 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $140,131,000 after acquiring an additional 257,727 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,454,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,358,848,000 after acquiring an additional 198,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 29.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 723,835 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $325,455,000 after acquiring an additional 165,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $462.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $77.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.68, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $478.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $446.87. Motorola Solutions has a 1 year low of $314.84 and a 1 year high of $507.82.

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

Motorola Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.09 dividend. This is a positive change from Motorola Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Motorola Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.75%.

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.