BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.11% of AeroVironment worth $5,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 51.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its position in 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 period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.83.

AeroVironment Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $193.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 90.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.36. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.51 and a 52-week high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company’s revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total transaction of $110,058.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,654,452.20. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $373,609 over the last three months. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.