Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 718 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $86,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,325 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in AeroVironment by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 55,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,541,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,559 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total transaction of $4,550,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,153,390.65. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AeroVironment Stock Down 1.6%

AeroVironment stock opened at $274.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.16. The company has a market capitalization of $13.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 176.79 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.52. AeroVironment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.25 and a fifty-two week high of $295.90.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company’s revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AVAV shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Sunday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wedbush upgraded shares of AeroVironment to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.00.

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.