Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $642,000 Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AVAV. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 24.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,215,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in AeroVironment by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,926 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,994,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth about $516,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVAV shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.1 %

AVAV stock opened at $171.28 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.92. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.46 and a 1-year high of $236.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 98.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total transaction of $78,697.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.