Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 244 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,001 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $2,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 77,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after purchasing an additional 16,107 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,190,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 232,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,940,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 7,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 4th quarter valued at $20,287,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AeroVironment Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of AVAV opened at $150.02 on Monday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.24 and a fifty-two week high of $184.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $144.19 and a 200 day moving average of $130.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 4.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 0.44.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 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 sale, the vice president now 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.