Citigroup Inc. Increases Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,232 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $14,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVAV. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James downgraded AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.83.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $190.87 on Thursday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52 week low of $116.51 and a 52 week high of $236.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.27. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.61 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released 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. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. 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 firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment 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 value of $184,854.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,658,343.04. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.