First Trust Advisors LP Has $26.02 Million Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,129 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,893 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $26,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $213,956,000 after buying an additional 71,903 shares during the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 722,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $174,681,000 after acquiring an additional 235,685 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 17.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 504,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $143,692,000 after acquiring an additional 73,963 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 18.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 490,426 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,772,000 after acquiring an additional 77,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 7.4% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 477,055 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $135,937,000 after acquiring an additional 32,721 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.41, for a total transaction of $43,602.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,001 shares in the company, valued at $8,546,264.41. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $156.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.49, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 4.30. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.20 and a fifty-two week high of $417.86.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 29th. The aerospace company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $641.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.97 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 3.71% and a negative net margin of 9.00%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $315.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $305.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.68.

More AeroVironment News

Here are the key news stories impacting AeroVironment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AeroVironment secured a $117.3 million U.S. Army contract for its P550 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) drones. The award reinforces demand for the company’s unmanned systems and could support future revenue and backlog growth. Is AeroVironment Cheap After Its Army Contract And Legal Headlines?
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation signals are mixed. A discounted-cash-flow assessment suggests potential upside, while sales-based multiples indicate the shares may still be expensive. Investors are balancing the new contract and AeroVironment’s longer-term growth prospects against a substantial year-to-date decline. AeroVironment Stock Looks Reasonable On Cash Flow But Rich On Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms highlighted a pending securities class-action lawsuit and the deadline for investors to seek lead-plaintiff status. The notices do not establish wrongdoing, but the litigation creates reputational, financial and disclosure-related uncertainty for AVAV shareholders. AVAV Final Deadline Alert
• Negative Sentiment: A Pentagon official reportedly warned that U.S. drone production is facing a major gap. Although increased defense spending could benefit AeroVironment, constrained manufacturing capacity may limit near-term deliveries and raise execution risk across the drone sector. Pentagon Drone Production Gap Report

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.