Blair William & Co. IL Has $24.04 Million Position in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL significantly increased its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. by 72.1%, owning 0.17% of the company worth $24.04 million by the end of Q2.
• AeroVironment received multiple positive ratings, with target prices raised by various analysts, including a target of $415.00 from BTIG Research, indicating strong investor confidence.
• CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares for approximately $4.55 million, reflecting a 12.4% decrease in their ownership position.

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 72.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,348 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,348 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.17% of AeroVironment worth $24,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $251,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at $51,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth $968,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVAV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush raised AeroVironment to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on AeroVironment from $295.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $356.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total transaction of $4,550,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at $32,153,390.65. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,869,567. The trade was a 25.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $398.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -622.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 0.99. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.25 and a twelve month high of $417.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $274.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.91. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $132.62 million for the quarter. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. As a group, analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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