Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $272.63 Million Stock Position in Elbit Systems Ltd. $ESLT

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital trimmed its Elbit Systems stake by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, but still held 472,573 shares valued at about $272.6 million at quarter-end.
• Insiders were selling: CEO Bezhalel Machlis and EVP Haim Daniel Delmar both sold shares on April 9, and insiders have sold 69,736 shares worth roughly $61.9 million over the past 90 days.
• Elbit Systems reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.87 versus the $2.98 estimate and revenue of $2.19 billion, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lowered its position in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 472,573 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 11,269 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.06% of Elbit Systems worth $272,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cardinal Capital Management increased its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 7,889 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Elbit Systems by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 466 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in Elbit Systems by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Elbit Systems by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 194 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Elbit Systems by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,471 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Elbit Systems

In other news, EVP Haim Daniel Delmar sold 7,654 shares of Elbit Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $887.40, for a total transaction of $6,792,159.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Bezhalel Machlis sold 25,514 shares of Elbit Systems 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 $22,641,123.60. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 69,736 shares of company stock worth $61,883,726 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESLT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Elbit Systems from $930.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $950.00 price objective on shares of Elbit Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Elbit Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elbit Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $742.75.

Elbit Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESLT opened at $854.06 on Monday. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a one year low of $415.90 and a one year high of $1,016.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $843.07 and a 200-day moving average of $746.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.14.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The aerospace company reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.89. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Elbit Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Elbit Systems's payout ratio is currently 26.96%.

Elbit Systems 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.

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