Baillie Gifford & Co. Decreases Stock Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 649,714 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 12,192 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $99,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $319,082,000 after buying an additional 209,359 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in AeroVironment by 3,565.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 171,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $21,589,000 after buying an additional 166,615 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the fourth quarter valued at $20,287,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,949,000 after acquiring an additional 144,628 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 756.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 102,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,876,000 after acquiring an additional 90,225 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AeroVironment stock traded down $1.41 on Friday, hitting $168.90. The company had a trading volume of 373,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,859. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.00 and a 52 week high of $224.00. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 76.08 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.21. AeroVironment had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVAV. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.