Profund Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,405 AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 281.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 430,307 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $51,288,000 after buying an additional 317,530 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,606,000 after acquiring an additional 293,553 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth $23,501,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter worth $16,802,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 54.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,772 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $113,630,000 after purchasing an additional 139,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AVAV. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $325.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $320.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.07.

AeroVironment Stock Down 8.6%

AVAV opened at $295.49 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.25 and a 1 year high of $417.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $332.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.96. The company has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a PE ratio of -461.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.09.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. The firm had revenue of $132.62 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $399.74, for a total transaction of $398,940.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,724,575.76. This represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,567. This represents a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,228 shares of company stock worth $1,223,157 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

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.