Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Raises Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 51.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,129 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Security National Bank acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 51.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total transaction of $78,697.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AVAV shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Down 0.7 %

AVAV stock opened at $180.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $171.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.66 and a beta of 0.50. AeroVironment, Inc. has a one year low of $119.46 and a one year high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The business had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

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.