AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Down 4.1%

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) traded down 4.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $177.49 and last traded at $178.01. 96,106 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 332,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AVAV shares. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research started coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 9.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.30 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. AeroVironment had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,891 shares of company stock worth $1,850,601 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

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.