Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 1,973 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 83% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,081 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total transaction of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,658,343.04. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $373,609 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 132.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after purchasing an additional 861,962 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 19,950.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 267,066 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,547,000 after buying an additional 265,734 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 155.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 321,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $64,457,000 after purchasing an additional 195,443 shares in the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC boosted its position in AeroVironment by 25.5% during the third quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 592,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $118,723,000 after buying an additional 120,447 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 108.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 180,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,255,000 after purchasing an additional 94,062 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $165.62 on Friday. AeroVironment has a twelve month low of $116.51 and a twelve month high of $236.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.18 and a beta of 0.45.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVAV shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.83.

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.