Sit Investment Associates Inc. Has $3.13 Million Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,260 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. owned 0.09% of AeroVironment worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in AeroVironment by 171.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 244 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 56.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 398 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AVAV shares. Wedbush raised AeroVironment to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. KeyCorp started coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. JMP Securities initiated coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $325.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $335.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $285.33.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at $32,153,390.65. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AVAV opened at $246.65 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.25 and a 52-week high of $295.90. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $243.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.12. The firm has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a PE ratio of 159.13 and a beta of 0.99.

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