AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 4.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 768 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $2,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 19,950.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 267,066 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,547,000 after purchasing an additional 265,734 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 108.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 180,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,255,000 after purchasing an additional 94,062 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 120.6% in 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 during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 valued at $20,568,000 after buying an additional 51,428 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. 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 target price on shares of 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 raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Baird R W raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. 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, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AVAV stock opened at $190.87 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.27. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.51 and a 12-month high of $236.60. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.61 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

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.