Brokerages Set AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Price Target at $225.20

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $225.20.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $168.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.98 and a beta of 0.50. AeroVironment has a fifty-two week low of $119.46 and a fifty-two week high of $236.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $173.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.76.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The business 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 company earned $0.97 EPS. AeroVironment’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Radnor Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AeroVironment by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in AeroVironment by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in AeroVironment by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in AeroVironment by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in AeroVironment by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.