Analysts Set AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Target Price at $211.83

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $211.83.

AVAV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James downgraded shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $194.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.31 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $208.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.28. AeroVironment has a fifty-two week low of $116.51 and a fifty-two week high of $236.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total transaction of $110,058.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares in the company, valued at $3,654,452.20. This trade represents a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAV. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 53.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter worth $565,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 120.6% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 136,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $24,884,000 after acquiring an additional 74,672 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,679,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% 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.