Aquila Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Aquila Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 58.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Aquila Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 132.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after acquiring an additional 861,962 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,949,000 after buying an additional 144,628 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 120.6% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 136,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,884,000 after buying an additional 74,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 83.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 112,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $20,568,000 after buying an additional 51,428 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AVAV. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James downgraded AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Baird R W raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $208.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $216.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.51 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $195.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.68. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.28 and a 52 week high of $227.18. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total value of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,787 shares of company stock worth $352,178 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Profile

AeroVironment, Inc designs, develops, produces, delivers, and supports a portfolio of robotic systems and related services for government agencies and businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), Tactical Missile System (TMS), Medium Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MUAS), and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Systems (HAPS) segments.