Sittner & Nelson LLC Purchases 250 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,588 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. AeroVironment accounts for approximately 2.0% of Sittner & Nelson LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Sittner & Nelson LLC’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $5,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVAV. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 281.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 430,307 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $51,288,000 after buying an additional 317,530 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 48.2% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,606,000 after acquiring an additional 293,553 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at about $23,501,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $16,802,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 54.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,772 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $113,630,000 after purchasing an additional 139,880 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVAV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $295.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on AeroVironment from $305.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.07.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AVAV stock opened at $295.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $332.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.14. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.25 and a 1 year high of $417.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.96. The firm has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -461.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.09.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. The business had revenue of $132.62 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.46, for a total transaction of $170,038.98. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,811 shares in the company, valued at $6,235,094.06. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $654,177.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,907 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,567. This trade represents a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,223,157. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Company 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.