AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Bought by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP grew its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 126.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,754 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVAV. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at approximately $854,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares during the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the first quarter worth $924,000. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 53.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 6,648 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in AeroVironment by 37.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $217.56 on Thursday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.51 and a 12-month high of $236.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.14 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.61.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of 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. Raymond James downgraded AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total value of $110,058.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,452.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

About AeroVironment

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.