Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.66 Million Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,664,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 30,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 4,908 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.3 %

AVAV stock opened at $150.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $144.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.23. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.24 and a 12 month high of $184.61. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.66 and a quick ratio of 3.16.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.62 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 15.14% and a positive return on equity of 13.93%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVAV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total value of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total transaction of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AeroVironment

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.