Kovack Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 31.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,570 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,602 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 7.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,860,954 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $319,082,000 after purchasing an additional 209,359 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 3,565.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 171,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $21,589,000 after acquiring an additional 166,615 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,287,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,949,000 after acquiring an additional 144,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its position in AeroVironment by 756.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 102,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.20.

AeroVironment Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AeroVironment stock traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $170.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 234,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,115. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.46 and a 200 day moving average of $155.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.00 and a 1-year high of $224.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 76.72 and a beta of 0.51.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.