American Capital Management Inc. Has $237.03 Million Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

American Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,182,193 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 34,435 shares during the quarter. AeroVironment accounts for about 7.8% of American Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. American Capital Management Inc. owned 4.19% of AeroVironment worth $237,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 1.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 23.1% in the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVAV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total value of $184,854.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,658,343.04. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 in the last three months. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AeroVironment Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $194.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $208.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.31 and a beta of 0.49. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.51 and a 1 year high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.