AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) PT Raised to $165.00

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $160.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on AVAV. Raymond James boosted their price objective on AeroVironment from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Robert W. Baird restated a neutral rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $140.20.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $148.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.46 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. AeroVironment has a 52 week low of $88.24 and a 52 week high of $184.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.86.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.30. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,310. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

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

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.