Freemont Management S.A. Takes $1.85 Million Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Freemont Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. Security National Bank purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 47.4% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the second quarter worth about $95,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded AeroVironment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total value of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,658,343.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Down 0.2 %

AeroVironment stock opened at $217.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.14 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.61. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.51 and a 1-year high of $236.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

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.