Swiss National Bank Sells 500 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $11,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVAV. Comerica Bank increased its position in AeroVironment by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 6,648 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AeroVironment by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. raised its position in AeroVironment by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 14,617 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth $1,043,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $565,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVAV. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James downgraded shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of AeroVironment 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,452.20. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Up 0.8 %

AeroVironment stock opened at $195.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.51 and a fifty-two week high of $236.60.

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