Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Raises Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 14.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 165,645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 20,545 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $33,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at approximately $357,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 5.4% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter worth about $557,000. Veracity Capital LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 10,086 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AeroVironment Stock Down 1.2 %

AeroVironment stock traded down $2.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $218.29. The company had a trading volume of 56,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,866. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.67 and a 12 month high of $227.18. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $198.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 103.69 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 $3,581,799.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,787 shares of company stock valued at $352,178. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVAV. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.20.

AeroVironment Company 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.