Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys Shares of 1,158 AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired 1,158 shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) in Q2, totaling approximately $330,000.
• Institutional investors hold 86.38% of AeroVironment's stock, with notable increases in stakes from firms like Ameriprise Financial and Alyeska Investment Group.
• Research firms have mixed ratings on AeroVironment, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a price target of $356.07.

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $107,606,000 after purchasing an additional 293,553 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $91,000,000 after purchasing an additional 221,948 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 456,486 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $54,409,000 after purchasing an additional 33,169 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 281.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 430,307 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $51,288,000 after purchasing an additional 317,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 281,323 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $33,531,000 after purchasing an additional 17,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $399.74, for a total value of $398,940.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,724,575.76. This represents a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,907 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,567. This represents a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVAV. Zacks Research lowered shares of AeroVironment from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $320.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Sunday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $356.07.

AeroVironment Price Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $364.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a PE ratio of -568.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.99. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.25 and a 12 month high of $417.86. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $292.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.00.

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