Stifel Financial Corp Has $2.21 Million Stock Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 93.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,030 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,339 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $2,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in AeroVironment by 23.1% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVAV shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $373,609 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Trading Up 3.7 %

AVAV opened at $161.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.01 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.51 and a twelve month high of $236.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.44.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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.