AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Price Up 4.5% – Time to Buy?

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s share price traded up 4.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $202.53 and last traded at $201.84. 71,260 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 340,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 increased their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.83.

AeroVironment Trading Down 2.9 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.27. 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 $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.61 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total value of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,658,343.04. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 132.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after purchasing an additional 861,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 265,734 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 155.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 321,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $64,457,000 after buying an additional 195,443 shares during the period. Heard Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 25.5% during the third quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 592,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $118,723,000 after acquiring an additional 120,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 94,062 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.