AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.20.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 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 directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at $470,310. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total value of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,165.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 1.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,468,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $457,013,000 after buying an additional 50,580 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,915,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $367,462,000 after acquiring an additional 54,482 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,430,804 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $119,272,000 after acquiring an additional 16,440 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 846,708 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,601,000 after acquiring an additional 101,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 759,638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,071,000 after purchasing an additional 34,794 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AeroVironment Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $146.62 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.83. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $88.24 and a 1 year high of $184.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.66 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.02 and a beta of 0.44.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $186.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.62 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AeroVironment Company 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.