Yehuda Vered Sells 5,953 Shares of Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) Stock

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) EVP Yehuda Vered sold 5,953 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $887.40, for a total transaction of $5,282,692.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Elbit Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ESLT opened at $925.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $820.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $642.51. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $369.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,016.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.16.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The aerospace company reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.33. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Analysts expect that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Elbit Systems’s payout ratio is 19.81%.

Institutional Trading of Elbit Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESLT. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,550,618 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $893,941,000 after purchasing an additional 397,049 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 998,267 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $573,131,000 after acquiring an additional 13,406 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 3,162.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 648,104 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $330,404,000 after acquiring an additional 628,236 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in Elbit Systems by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 618,325 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,345,000 after purchasing an additional 18,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Elbit Systems by 2.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 483,842 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $246,121,000 after purchasing an additional 12,003 shares in the last quarter. 17.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESLT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Elbit Systems from $530.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Elbit Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Elbit Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Elbit Systems presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.33.

Key Stories Impacting Elbit Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Elbit Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price-target upgrade: an outlet reported an 11.39% increase to a $622.43 target, which may support valuation expectations and investor confidence despite the target remaining below the current share price. Elbit Systems price target increased
• Neutral Sentiment: March short-interest fell ~21.6% to 209,380 shares (short-interest ratio ~1.0 days; ~0.5% of shares short). Lower short positions reduce a near-term short-squeeze risk and indicate fewer explicit bearish bets, a modestly constructive technical datapoint.
• Neutral Sentiment: April short-interest entry shows an apparent data/reporting anomaly (reports 0 shares and NaN change). Treat that April figure as unreliable until corrected by the data provider.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling on April 9: multiple senior executives, including CEO Bezhalel Machlis (25,514 shares, ~ $22.6M at ~$887.40) and several EVPs (individual sales of ~5.9k–8.5k shares each), disclosed open-market sales. Significant insider dispositions can weigh on sentiment unless they are pre‑planned (10b5‑1) or explained as routine diversification. See the CEO SEC filing for details. CEO sale SEC filing

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.