Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Reduces Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 768 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of AeroVironment worth $2,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVAV. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 53.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,911,000 after buying an additional 6,648 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter worth approximately $565,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 120.6% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 136,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,884,000 after purchasing an additional 74,672 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,679,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $218,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,581,799.88. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 in the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.83.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.9 %

AVAV stock opened at $190.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.27. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.51 and a 12 month high of $236.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 89.61 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AeroVironment Company 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.