AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 378,568 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 53,313 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $47,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 106.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 556,853 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,106,000 after purchasing an additional 287,730 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 24.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,350,501 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $127,136,000 after purchasing an additional 266,607 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 209,359 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 5.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,860,339 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $363,412,000 after buying an additional 192,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the second quarter worth $15,640,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In related news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total value of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,310. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $150.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 0.44. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.24 and a twelve month high of $184.61.

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

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.