7,601 Shares in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,601 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,524,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 1.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in AeroVironment by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,876 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James downgraded shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total value of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,658,343.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $216.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.41 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $200.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.49. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.51 and a twelve month high of $227.18.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.