Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Purchases New Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 609,261 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $93,759,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 2.16% of AeroVironment as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,098,822 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $476,878,000 after buying an additional 35,543 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,135,280 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $328,598,000 after acquiring an additional 183,887 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 654,024 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $100,670,000 after acquiring an additional 19,835 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 541,541 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $83,338,000 after purchasing an additional 154,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 333,193 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $51,275,000 after purchasing an additional 32,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 29,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.20, for a total transaction of $3,764,721.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,765,306.80. This represents a 20.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVAV. Raymond James raised shares of AeroVironment from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on AeroVironment from $220.00 to $146.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.00.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of AeroVironment stock traded up $3.17 on Monday, reaching $161.96. 441,971 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.61 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 93.08 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $135.46 and a 200 day moving average of $164.83. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.25 and a 52 week high of $236.60.

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.