AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s share price was down 1.3% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $138.40 and last traded at $140.31. Approximately 1,261,170 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 1,674,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVAV. Raymond James Financial upgraded AeroVironment from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on AeroVironment from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $285.00 price objective on AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on AeroVironment from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.89.

AeroVironment Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $158.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.44.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $480.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.95 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 5.77% and a positive return on equity of 4.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total transaction of $38,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 48,253 shares in the company, valued at $7,347,484.31. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total value of $41,381.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,592,271.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 805 shares of company stock worth $142,671 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAV. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $574,566,000. Heard Capital LLC grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 48.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 490,426 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,772,000 after acquiring an additional 77,619 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $69,745,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,549,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies autonomous systems, uncrewed aircraft, loitering munitions and counter-uncrewed-aircraft systems. Its portfolio includes small unmanned aircraft systems such as Raven, Puma and Wasp, as well as larger platforms including JUMP 20 and Quantix Recon.

The company is also known for its Switchblade family of loitering munitions, which combine surveillance, target identification and precision strike capabilities. AeroVironment provides related ground control systems, sensors, software, communications equipment, training and support services for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Founded in 1971 by aerospace engineer Paul B.