Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 16.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 378,227 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 73,217 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $75,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 114,502 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $20,858,000 after acquiring an additional 20,785 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,926 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 752 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 359.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,125 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AeroVironment Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $156.50 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $202.57 and its 200 day moving average is $192.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.94 and a beta of 0.45. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.51 and a 52-week high of $236.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total transaction of $110,058.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,452.20. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $373,609. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.