HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) by 130.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,072 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,738 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Elbit Systems were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in Elbit Systems by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 449,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $117,520,000 after acquiring an additional 41,401 shares during the period. Heard Capital LLC raised its position in Elbit Systems by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 218,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $43,700,000 after buying an additional 10,070 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 12.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,703 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,158,000 after acquiring an additional 18,614 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 12.1% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 74,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,872,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Elbit Systems by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 45,789 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Elbit Systems Price Performance

ESLT stock opened at $392.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $329.41 and a 200-day moving average of $266.81. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a 12-month low of $175.30 and a 12-month high of $420.00.

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

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. Elbit Systems’s payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

Elbit Systems 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.