Swiss National Bank Raises Holdings in Elbit Systems Ltd. $ESLT

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) by 27.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,740 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 22,315 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.23% of Elbit Systems worth $85,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Elbit Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,610 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,612,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Elbit Systems by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 741 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 7,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners lifted its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Elbit Systems from $930.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research cut Elbit Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Elbit Systems from $950.00 to $880.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $845.00 price target on Elbit Systems in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $803.75.

Elbit Systems Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Elbit Systems stock opened at $754.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $791.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $792.65. The company has a market cap of $33.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.17. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $432.85 and a fifty-two week high of $1,016.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The aerospace company reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.89. Elbit Systems had a return on equity of 16.15% and a net margin of 7.14%.The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Elbit Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.96%.

About Elbit Systems

Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based defense electronics company that designs, develops and supplies a broad range of systems for military, homeland security and commercial aviation customers. The company focuses on integrated, platform-level solutions that combine sensors, communications, command-and-control software and weapons integration to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), force protection and mission management.

Its product and service portfolio spans unmanned aircraft systems, electro-optic and signal intelligence systems, electronic warfare and communications equipment, avionics and mission systems for military and commercial aircraft, and land and naval systems.