AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 2,950.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 305 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,951,393 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $391,254,000 after acquiring an additional 439,717 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in AeroVironment by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,582,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $317,366,000 after purchasing an additional 7,471 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AeroVironment by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 634,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,180,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the period. Heard Capital LLC raised its stake in AeroVironment by 25.5% during the third quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 592,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $118,723,000 after purchasing an additional 120,447 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 541,541 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $83,338,000 after purchasing an additional 154,703 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,480.56. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVAV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 1.3 %

AeroVironment stock opened at $153.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 88.30 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.44 and a fifty-two week high of $236.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.42.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 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.