Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 50,454 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 36.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,956 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 50,454 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of AeroVironment worth $10,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,559 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,998 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth $282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:AVAV traded up $1.68 on Friday, hitting $272.88. 722,298 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,330,022. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 176.05 and a beta of 0.96. 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 company's 50-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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $275.05 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. Wedbush upgraded shares of AeroVironment to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $268.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,153,390.65. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment 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.