Cornerstone Capital Inc. Makes New $203,000 Investment in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,610 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $319,082,000 after buying an additional 209,359 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 556,853 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,106,000 after buying an additional 287,730 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 492,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $54,958,000 after buying an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 304,460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,956,000 after buying an additional 44,748 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 288,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,319,000 after buying an additional 4,728 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AeroVironment Trading Up 1.6 %

AeroVironment stock opened at $158.09 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.24 and a fifty-two week high of $184.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.10.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.