Capital Advisors Inc. OK Decreases Stock Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK lessened its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,707 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 299.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 740.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,919 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,836,000 after purchasing an additional 56,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,409 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVAV. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research 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, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AVAV stock opened at $179.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.07 and a beta of 0.52. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.38 and a 12-month high of $236.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.68.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $181.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current 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.