Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 721 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $599,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVAV. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 24.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,215,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 12.0% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 42.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,684 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,179,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $168.74 on Tuesday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.46 and a 12 month high of $236.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.76. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.98 and a beta of 0.50.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total transaction of $78,697.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.