Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Trims Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust reduced its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $33,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in AeroVironment by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 16,722 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,108,000 after acquiring an additional 4,435 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its position in AeroVironment by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 4,188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the fourth quarter worth $359,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in AeroVironment by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,001 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in AeroVironment by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $158.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.68 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.10. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.24 and a 12 month high of $184.61.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AVAV shares. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.20.

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.