New York State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,618 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.06% of AeroVironment worth $2,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AVAV. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 19,950.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 265,734 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in AeroVironment during the third quarter valued at $1,524,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 21.0% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp bought a new position in AeroVironment during the third quarter valued at $1,620,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $154.79 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a one year low of $121.38 and a one year high of $236.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $166.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.61 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.96 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $225.20.

AeroVironment Profile

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.