AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Purchased by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 270.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,107 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,186 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in AeroVironment by 41.0% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $91,000,000 after acquiring an additional 221,948 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its position in AeroVironment by 35.4% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,130,000 after acquiring an additional 4,669 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in AeroVironment by 94.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 4,415 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in AeroVironment by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 45,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,589 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the first quarter worth approximately $1,142,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total value of $4,550,765.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at $32,153,390.65. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AeroVironment Trading Down 4.7%

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $247.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.21 billion, a PE ratio of 159.65 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.69. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $295.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 5.32%. AeroVironment’s revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AVAV shares. Raymond James Financial set a $225.00 price objective on AeroVironment and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $325.00 price target for the company. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $325.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.55.

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.