AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,208 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in AeroVironment were worth $4,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVAV. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 28.1% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 2,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 12.5% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 18,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 285.3% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,770 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,961,000 after purchasing an additional 10,937 shares in the last quarter. Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,845,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,138 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after buying an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $110,058.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,654,452.20. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $195.91 on Monday. 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 quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.26. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.51 and a 1 year high of $236.60. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.98 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AVAV shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.83.

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.