South Dakota Investment Council Has $1.47 Million Stock Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 113.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVAV. Legacy Bridge LLC boosted its position in AeroVironment by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 4,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 495 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.41, for a total transaction of $43,602.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,546,264.41. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $305.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $210.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of AeroVironment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.68.

AeroVironment Price Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $149.37 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.20 and a 12-month high of $417.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $165.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.19. The company has a quick ratio of 3.59, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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