AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Bought by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,409 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,601 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.07% of AeroVironment worth $3,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 299.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 740.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,919 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,836,000 after acquiring an additional 56,318 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the third quarter worth about $271,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of AeroVironment stock opened at $180.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.53 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $169.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.86. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.46 and a 1 year high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly 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). AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.