Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 2,526 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,138 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the first quarter worth $854,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at about $924,000. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 6,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 37.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total transaction of $110,058.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,452.20. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AVAV. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut AeroVironment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $240.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.50.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AeroVironment stock opened at $200.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.92 and a beta of 0.49. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.51 and a twelve month high of $236.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.21.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current 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.