State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stock Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 49.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,560 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 11,249 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $2,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 322,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,641,000 after buying an additional 17,985 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,717 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the first quarter worth approximately $854,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,376,000 after acquiring an additional 179,395 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total value of $91,187.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were 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 owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AVAV stock opened at $182.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.26. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.67 and a 1 year high of $224.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.23.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company’s revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVAV. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.