KBC Group NV Has $189,000 Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

KBC Group NV increased its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 63.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in AeroVironment by 29.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,951,393 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $391,254,000 after acquiring an additional 439,717 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 265,734 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in 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 buying an additional 195,443 shares during the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC increased 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 worth $118,723,000 after buying an additional 120,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 108.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 180,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,255,000 after buying an additional 94,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVAV. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

AeroVironment Trading Up 7.6 %

Shares of AeroVironment stock opened at $186.12 on Wednesday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.54 and a 1 year high of $236.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.33. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.97 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

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). AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

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.