Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Elbit Systems Ltd. $ESLT

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 749 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Elbit Systems were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 889,904 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $341,276,000 after purchasing an additional 15,552 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Elbit Systems by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 809 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 14,796 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Elbit Systems by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 62,474 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $16,340,000 after buying an additional 12,891 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Elbit Systems by 38,268.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 7,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Elbit Systems by 301.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,798 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 5,854 shares during the period. 17.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ESLT shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Elbit Systems from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Elbit Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $540.00.

Elbit Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ ESLT opened at $480.21 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.51, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $453.10 and a 200 day moving average of $408.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $188.53 and a twelve month high of $499.00.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The aerospace company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 14.29%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 14th. This is a positive change from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Elbit Systems’s payout ratio is currently 22.70%.

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.