Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,035 Shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. $ESLT

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,256 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Elbit Systems were worth $4,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESLT. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Elbit Systems during the third quarter worth $730,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of Elbit Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $824,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 226.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 193,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,006,000 after acquiring an additional 134,300 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,082,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 337,292 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $151,613,000 after purchasing an additional 8,310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ESLT shares. Zacks Research lowered Elbit Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Elbit Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Elbit Systems from $530.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Elbit Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Elbit Systems in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $531.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.33.

Elbit Systems Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:ESLT opened at $676.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.74, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $294.99 and a 12 month high of $740.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $636.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.08.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.60. Elbit Systems had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 5.91%.The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Elbit Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Elbit Systems’s payout ratio is 22.87%.

Elbit Systems Company Profile

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.