SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 79.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,355 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 9,312 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in AeroVironment by 1.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,468,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $457,013,000 after purchasing an additional 50,580 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,860,954 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $319,082,000 after acquiring an additional 209,359 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,430,804 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $119,272,000 after acquiring an additional 16,440 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 846,708 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $86,601,000 after purchasing an additional 101,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 759,638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,071,000 after purchasing an additional 34,794 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.20.

AeroVironment Trading Down 1.6 %

AVAV opened at $149.85 on Wednesday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.24 and a 12 month high of $184.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.77 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $140.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.42.

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

AeroVironment 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.