Blair William & Co. IL Has $1.87 Million Stock Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $95,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $204.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.12 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.67 and a twelve month high of $224.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.81.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,904,723.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,581,799.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AVAV. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.