AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Sold by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC lowered its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,627 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,297 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC owned about 0.93% of AeroVironment worth $40,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,524,000. Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 142.3% in the third quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,046,000 after purchasing an additional 14,780 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 7.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 14.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 165,645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,212,000 after purchasing an additional 20,545 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 1.2% in the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 12,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AVAV. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total transaction of $78,697.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Price Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $151.60 on Wednesday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $121.74 and a 12 month high of $236.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.61 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 87.12 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.64.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AeroVironment

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.