Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,203 AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,203 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,134 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 54.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 18,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 owns 12,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,181,165.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,310. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVAV. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $150.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 0.44. 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 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 business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AeroVironment

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.