Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 10.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 225,949 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 27,601 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $45,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Security National Bank purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% in the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in AeroVironment by 47.4% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AVAV shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.50.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of AVAV opened at $200.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $206.15 and its 200 day moving average is $192.98. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.51 and a 12-month high of $236.60. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 93.92 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total transaction of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,658,343.04. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615 in the last 90 days. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.