AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stake Lessened by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,044 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 179,395 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 132.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after buying an additional 861,962 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 8.8% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 350,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,760,000 after buying an additional 28,288 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,932,000 after buying an additional 5,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,949,000 after buying an additional 144,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AVAV shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.20.

Insider Activity

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total value of $89,621.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,258,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, 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 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $179.47 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.67 and a fifty-two week high of $224.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.84 and a beta of 0.50.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.89%. AeroVironment’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

AeroVironment Company 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.