Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,322 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Elbit Systems were worth $24,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 99.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Elbit Systems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 874,352 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $229,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,215 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 12.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,703 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,158,000 after purchasing an additional 18,614 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 10,531 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. 17.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Elbit Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Elbit Systems Stock Performance

ESLT opened at $371.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.58 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $343.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.92. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a 52-week low of $175.30 and a 52-week high of $420.00.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The aerospace company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This is an increase from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Elbit Systems’s payout ratio is presently 27.72%.

Elbit Systems Company Profile

Elbit Systems Ltd. develops and supplies a portfolio of airborne, land, and naval systems and products for the defense, homeland security, and commercial aviation applications primarily in Israel. The company operates through Aerospace, C4I and Cyber, ISTAR and EW, Land, and Elbit Systems of America segments.