Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 3,644 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,644 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $20,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 26.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 77,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after buying an additional 16,107 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the third quarter worth $1,190,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in AeroVironment by 6.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 232,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,940,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 135.5% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 7,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 36.7% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,949 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of AeroVironment 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 sale, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,310. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total value of $176,770.00. Following the transaction, 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 corporate insiders.

AeroVironment Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of AVAV traded up $4.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.28. 327,931 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 669,678. AeroVironment, Inc. 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 quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 4.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $136.70 and a 200 day moving average of $126.50.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AVAV shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.20.

AeroVironment 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.