Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Reduces Position in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its position in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) by 53.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,523 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,906 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Elbit Systems were worth $651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESLT. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 99.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Elbit Systems by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,703 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,158,000 after acquiring an additional 18,614 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 45,789 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ESLT opened at $370.15 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $175.30 and a 12-month high of $420.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $339.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $275.78. The company has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 63.27 and a beta of 0.32.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The aerospace company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 11.34%. As a group, analysts forecast 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, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This is a boost from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Elbit Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.72%.

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.