AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Holdings Increased by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 162.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,065 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.11% of AeroVironment worth $5,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 50.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AeroVironment Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of AeroVironment stock opened at $199.23 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.79. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.74 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.67 and a 1 year high of $224.00.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,776 shares of company stock worth $1,837,117 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James downgraded AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.20.

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.