Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Raises Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 1,593.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,423 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,217 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.07% of AeroVironment worth $2,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 7.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,860,954 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $319,082,000 after buying an additional 209,359 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 106.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 556,853 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $62,106,000 after buying an additional 287,730 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 492,766 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $54,958,000 after buying an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 17.2% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 304,460 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $33,956,000 after buying an additional 44,748 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 288,155 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $36,319,000 after purchasing an additional 4,728 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AeroVironment Stock Down 0.2 %

AVAV stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $149.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 259,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,253. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of -35.27 and a beta of 0.44. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.24 and a 12 month high of $184.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm's 50-day moving average is $144.19 and its 200-day moving average is $130.56.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.62 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 15.14% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total value of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AeroVironment news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AVAV. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.20.

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.