AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 634,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $127,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in AeroVironment by 132.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after buying an additional 861,962 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 19,950.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 267,066 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,547,000 after acquiring an additional 265,734 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 155.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 321,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $64,457,000 after acquiring an additional 195,443 shares in the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 25.5% during the third quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 592,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $118,723,000 after acquiring an additional 120,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 108.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 180,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,255,000 after purchasing an additional 94,062 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $164.04 on Wednesday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.51 and a twelve month high of $236.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.28 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $200.96 and a 200 day moving average of $191.90. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. AeroVironment’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,480.56. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $373,609 in the last ninety days. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AeroVironment 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.