Wellington Management Group LLP Raises Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 155.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,479 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 195,443 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.14% of AeroVironment worth $64,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 1.0% during the third quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 7.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 51.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total value of $110,058.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares in the company, valued at $3,654,452.20. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $373,609. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AeroVironment stock traded up $0.63 on Wednesday, hitting $154.35. 777,356 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 361,114. The company has a current ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 88.34 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $205.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.32. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52 week low of $116.51 and a 52 week high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded AeroVironment from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.20.

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.