Truist Financial Corp Purchases 1,014 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. by 22.1%, acquiring an additional 1,014 shares in the latest quarter, bringing its total holdings to 5,610 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Analyst ratings for AeroVironment are positive, with two firms issuing a Strong Buy rating, and an average target price of $356.07, indicating strong investor interest.
• Company CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares in July, representing a 12.40% decrease in his ownership, while another insider sold shares recently as well.

Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,610 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 296.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 99 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 56.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 398 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 446 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AVAV. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on AeroVironment from $300.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AeroVironment from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. New Street Research set a $365.00 price objective on AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on AeroVironment from $325.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $356.07.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at $32,153,390.65. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,869,567. This represents a 25.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of AeroVironment stock opened at $392.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -612.94, a PEG ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.37. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $132.62 million during the quarter. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.67% and a negative net margin of 4.14%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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