Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,022 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 57,378 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.28% of Elbit Systems worth $32,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Elbit Systems by 57.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,179 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Elbit Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Elbit Systems by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 10,531 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Elbit Systems by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,534 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Elbit Systems by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares in the last quarter. 17.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Elbit Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Elbit Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ESLT traded up $1.16 on Friday, reaching $406.22. 45,139 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,459. The company has a 50 day moving average of $358.85 and a 200 day moving average of $289.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $175.30 and a fifty-two week high of $420.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 69.44 and a beta of 0.32.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The aerospace company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 11.34%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This is a positive change from Elbit Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Elbit Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

About Elbit Systems

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.