Brokerages Set Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) Price Target at $504.88

Shares of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $504.88.

MSI has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Motorola Solutions from $467.00 to $529.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Motorola Solutions from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Motorola Solutions from $425.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions from $430.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Motorola Solutions

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,717 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $98,791,000 after buying an additional 10,096 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in Motorola Solutions by 12.0% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 614 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Motorola Solutions in the third quarter valued at $33,423,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 136.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 181,023 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $85,610,000 after purchasing an additional 104,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Motorola Solutions by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,388 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.17% of the company’s stock.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSI opened at $472.45 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.96 billion, a PE ratio of 51.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.99. Motorola Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $307.31 and a fifty-two week high of $507.82. 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 (NYSE:MSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.36. Motorola Solutions had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 251.96%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions will post 12.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.09 per share. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. 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 payout ratio 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.