AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the first quarter worth approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company 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 report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.20.

AeroVironment Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $215.39 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.77 and a fifty-two week high of $224.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $189.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.37. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.12 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.

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. The company had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company’s revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at $3,581,799.88. This trade represents 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 available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,787 shares of company stock valued at $352,178 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.