AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Bought by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 26.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,851 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,875 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.55% of AeroVironment worth $18,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,559 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,518 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in AeroVironment by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,998 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at $282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total value of $4,550,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,153,390.65. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $272.88. The company had a trading volume of 722,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,330,022. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 176.05 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.69. AeroVironment, Inc. has a one year low of $102.25 and a one year high of $295.90. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $218.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.98.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on AeroVironment from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research raised their price target on AeroVironment from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial set a $225.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $335.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $268.00.

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.