Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases New Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in AeroVironment, purchasing 1,743 shares valued at approximately $208,000 in the first quarter.
• AeroVironment CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the company for over $4.5 million, reducing his ownership by 12.40%.
• AeroVironment's stock has garnered an average rating of "Buy" from analysts, with a consensus target price of $268.00.

Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,743 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. Redwood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 9,273 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 4.3% during the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,601 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 185 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,153,390.65. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AVAV opened at $260.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 167.79 and a beta of 0.99. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.25 and a twelve month high of $295.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $228.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 10.68%. AeroVironment's revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wedbush upgraded shares of AeroVironment to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $225.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $268.00.

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.

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