AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Sees Large Volume Increase - Here's What Happened

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 631,766 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the previous session's volume of 584,371 shares.The stock last traded at $258.50 and had previously closed at $263.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $225.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $335.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $265.22.

AeroVironment Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 170.36 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $196.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.36.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. AeroVironment had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $275.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.69 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AeroVironment by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,130,000 after buying an additional 4,669 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in AeroVironment by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 45,272 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,967,000 after buying an additional 6,589 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $404,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in AeroVironment by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $91,000,000 after buying an additional 221,948 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AeroVironment by 415.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 198,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $30,620,000 after buying an additional 160,390 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.