Motorola Solutions, Inc. (MSI)

[zinn21]

Aug 26, 2010 19:28:41 (ET)


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in Motorola Inc. (MOT) to about 10.4% by spending another $86.2 million on shares this week.

The telecommunications company, which is preparing to split itself in two, last month posted higher quarterly profit and stabilized its long revenue decline, as its wager on smartphones running Google Inc.'s (GOOG) software began to pay off.

Icahn bought 11.5 million shares for $7.50 each Wednesday and Thursday, according a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last month, he bought 10.2 million shares.

Icahn, who now holds 247.1 million shares, has sharply increased his stake in recent months, as some have speculated that he sees Motorola's value rising when it completes its split, which is set for early next year. At the end of 2009, he owned 119.8 million shares.

Motorola's shares gained 2.7% to $7.70 in after-hours trading. The stock was down 3% this year as of the close.