AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Short Interest Update

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a growth of 37.5% from the August 15th total of 938,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 372,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the first quarter worth $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 50.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Down 10.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV traded down $19.76 during trading on Monday, reaching $172.35. 364,666 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,210. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AeroVironment has a 1-year low of $104.67 and a 1-year high of $224.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.44 and a beta of 0.50.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AVAV shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.20.

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.