Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $6.57 Million Position in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 23,062 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,572,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AeroVironment by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $991,089,000 after purchasing an additional 433,830 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 281.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 430,307 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $51,288,000 after buying an additional 317,530 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,606,000 after buying an additional 293,553 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth approximately $75,690,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at approximately $23,501,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AVAV. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $325.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $305.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on AeroVironment from $267.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on AeroVironment from $300.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on AeroVironment from $295.00 to $389.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.19.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AVAV opened at $264.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $337.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -413.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.13. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $417.86.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $132.62 million during the quarter. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.67% and a negative net margin of 4.14%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.46, for a total transaction of $170,038.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,235,094.06. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,567. This trade represents a 25.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,223,157. Insiders own 0.81% 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.