ARK Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

ARK Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 264,924 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 58,840 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC owned about 0.94% of AeroVironment worth $53,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Radnor Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in AeroVironment by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 7.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AeroVironment Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of AVAV opened at $223.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.02 and a beta of 0.49. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.51 and a 1 year high of $232.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.45.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. AeroVironment’s revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,581,799.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVAV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst 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 report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.20.

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.