Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 532,349 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 71,411 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.89% of AeroVironment worth $81,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AeroVironment by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,098,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $476,878,000 after purchasing an additional 35,543 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in AeroVironment by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,135,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $328,598,000 after buying an additional 183,887 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 654,024 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $100,670,000 after buying an additional 19,835 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 541,541 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $83,338,000 after acquiring an additional 154,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 333,193 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $51,275,000 after acquiring an additional 32,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVAV. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James raised AeroVironment from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $220.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.00.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $153.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.84. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.25 and a twelve month high of $236.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 88.07 and a beta of 0.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 29,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.20, for a total transaction of $3,764,721.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,765,306.80. This trade represents a 20.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.