Capital Fund Management S.A. Buys Shares of 21,565 AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. invested $2.57 million in AeroVironment, Inc. during the first quarter, acquiring 21,565 shares and owning 0.08% of the company.
• AeroVironment reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.61 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 39.6%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of “Buy” for AeroVironment stock, with several recent upgrades and target prices reaching as high as $335.00.

Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 21,565 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $2,570,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned about 0.08% of AeroVironment as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,183 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 93,039 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $14,318,000 after buying an additional 4,478 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 16,829 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 105.6% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,038 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,391,000 after buying an additional 4,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,720 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,957,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total transaction of $4,550,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at $32,153,390.65. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.9%

NASDAQ AVAV traded down $7.31 on Friday, reaching $241.63. 438,100 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 824,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $252.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.02. The company has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 156.08 and a beta of 0.99. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.25 and a 12 month high of $295.90.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 5.32%.AeroVironment's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised AeroVironment from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. William Blair assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AeroVironment from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $292.33.

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.