Granite Investment Partners LLC Invests $6.14 Million in AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Granite Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,533 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $481,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $6,572,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in AeroVironment by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 297,161 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $84,676,000 after acquiring an additional 36,824 shares during the period. Finally, Shelton Capital Management bought a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter worth $296,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AVAV opened at $257.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.96, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of -402.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.09. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.25 and a 1 year high of $417.86.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $132.62 million for the quarter. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVAV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on AeroVironment from $305.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research cut AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $391.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $358.19.

Insider Activity

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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,235,094.06. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,567. This represents a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,228 shares of company stock worth $1,223,157. 0.81% of the stock is 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.