Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Grows Stock Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Key Points

• Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AeroVironment by 20.9% in Q2, owning 40,930 shares worth approximately $11.7 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have been active in AeroVironment, with Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raising its holdings by 41% and US Bancorp DE increasing theirs by 13.5% during the second quarter.
• AeroVironment's stock is experiencing positive analyst sentiment, with a consensus target price of $356.07 and multiple "buy" ratings, despite a recent downgrade from Zacks.

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 20.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,930 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,075 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned approximately 0.08% of AeroVironment worth $11,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,068 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $91,000,000 after acquiring an additional 221,948 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AeroVironment by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,130,000 after buying an additional 4,669 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in AeroVironment by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 4,415 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,142,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,869,567. This trade represents a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 998 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $399.74, for a total transaction of $398,940.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,724,575.76. This represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVAV shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $305.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $325.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AeroVironment from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $356.07.

AeroVironment Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of AVAV stock traded up $14.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $378.54. 782,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,300,092. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -591.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $301.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.36. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.25 and a twelve month high of $417.86.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $132.62 million during the quarter. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. As a group, analysts forecast 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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