Congress Asset Management Co. Decreases Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Congress Asset Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 310,174 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 36,825 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.62% of AeroVironment worth $75,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,061,000 after acquiring an additional 8,159 shares during the last quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,086 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at $332,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting AeroVironment

Here are the key news stories impacting AeroVironment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Won a roughly $117M U.S. Army contract for P550 drones, which analysts and traders viewed as a tangible revenue win and helped push the stock higher. AeroVironment (AVAV) Stock Jumps 5% Following Major Army Deal and Rating Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded AVAV from “Underperform” to “Market Perform,” citing a valuation reset; the rating change provided immediate technical and sentiment support. Raymond James upgrades AeroVironment (AVAV)
• Positive Sentiment: Broader defense-stock strength after the U.S. postponed military action against Iran provided a sector tailwind, lifting AVAV alongside other defense names during the afternoon session. Orion, nLIGHT, Quest Resource, AeroVironment, and Northwest Pipe Shares Are Soaring
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures for March appear to contain anomalies (zeros and NaN), so there’s no clear short-squeeze signal from the published data; treat these numbers cautiously until corrected by exchanges or data providers.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results missed revenue and EPS expectations and management issued guidance that disappointed some investors — a longer-term headwind that has left AVAV trading well below its 50- and 200-day moving averages and supports bearish technical narratives. AeroVironment stock price sinks as risky patterns emerge: can it hit $170?

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AeroVironment news, CAO Brian Charles Shackley sold 200 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total transaction of $42,504.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,340.88. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 999 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.60, for a total value of $367,232.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,359,847.60. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 4,924 shares of company stock worth $1,486,038 in the last quarter. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVAV. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings cut AeroVironment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on AeroVironment from $389.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on AeroVironment from $390.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.78.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AVAV opened at $206.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 5.51 and a quick ratio of 4.54. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.25 and a 1-year high of $417.86. The stock has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of -47.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.32.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 13.93%.The firm had revenue of $408.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 143.4% compared to the same quarter last year. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.750-3.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.