Leavell Investment Management Inc. Buys 1,600 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 35.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth $288,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 212,321 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $60,501,000 after acquiring an additional 14,033 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter worth about $330,000. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 310,760 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $88,551,000 after purchasing an additional 29,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered AeroVironment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on AeroVironment from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.07.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $378.54 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.25 and a twelve month high of $417.86. The company has a current ratio of 5.96, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -591.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.99.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.67% and a negative net margin of 4.14%.The firm had revenue of $132.62 million during the quarter. On average, analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $654,177.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,567. This trade represents a 25.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 998 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $399.74, for a total value of $398,940.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,724,575.76. This represents a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.