AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV Stock Holdings Increased by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 19.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,880 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,120 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $6,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 4th quarter valued at $94,655,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in AeroVironment by 22,773.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 261,214 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $63,185,000 after purchasing an additional 260,072 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in AeroVironment by 4,770.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 260,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,941,000 after purchasing an additional 254,864 shares in the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 722,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $174,681,000 after purchasing an additional 235,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in AeroVironment by 3,880.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 206,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,058,000 after purchasing an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In related news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.41, for a total value of $43,602.50. Following the sale, the director owned 49,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,546,264.41. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on AeroVironment from $248.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $315.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $280.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.68.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $168.06 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $164.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.62. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.20 and a 52-week high of $417.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 3.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.41.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 29th. The aerospace company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $641.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.97 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 3.71% and a negative net margin of 9.00%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.