State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 148 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,174 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned approximately 0.06% of AeroVironment worth $2,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter worth $47,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 388 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AVAV. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair reissued 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. According to MarketBeat, AeroVironment currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,310. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of AeroVironment 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 directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total value of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AeroVironment stock opened at $148.53 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.24 and a twelve month high of $184.61. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.14 and its 200 day moving average is $127.64. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.46 and a beta of 0.44.

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

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.