AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Now Covered by Oppenheimer

Stock analysts at Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a research note issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price points to a potential upside of 74.45% from the company’s current price.

AVAV has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on AeroVironment from $315.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $280.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $285.00 price target on AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.81.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $117.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of -50.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.93. AeroVironment has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $408.25.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $480.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $451.95 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.04% and a negative net margin of 5.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total transaction of $41,381.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,592,271.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen Page sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total value of $38,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 48,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,347,484.31. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 805 shares of company stock worth $142,671. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $574,566,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 20.1% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 595,134 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $84,640,000 after purchasing an additional 99,494 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 490,426 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,772,000 after purchasing an additional 77,619 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at approximately $69,745,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,549,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies uncrewed aircraft systems, loitering munitions, counter-uncrewed-aircraft systems, space systems and related autonomous technologies. Its products are designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision strike, tactical communications and other defense and security missions.

The company’s portfolio includes the Raven, Puma and Quantix unmanned aircraft systems; the JUMP 20 vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft; and the Switchblade family of loitering munitions.