1,500 Shares in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Acquired by Nkcfo LLC

Nkcfo LLC bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 7.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,860,954 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $319,082,000 after purchasing an additional 209,359 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 106.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 556,853 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,106,000 after purchasing an additional 287,730 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 492,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,958,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 17.2% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 304,460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,956,000 after purchasing an additional 44,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 288,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,319,000 after purchasing an additional 4,728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,165.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total value of $350,079.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AVAV shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV traded up $3.05 on Friday, reaching $168.77. The stock had a trading volume of 251,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 290,492. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.24 and a 12-month high of $184.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 4.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.16 and a beta of 0.44.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.30. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

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.