ARK Investment Management LLC Sells 58,840 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

ARK Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 264,924 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 58,840 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $53,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Security National Bank bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth $36,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 47.4% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter worth about $95,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Price Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $223.69 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.51 and a 12-month high of $232.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.02 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 the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total transaction of $184,854.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,658,343.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 in the last three months. 1.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AVAV. Raymond James lowered shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Baird R W raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.20.

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.