AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $240.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock.

AVAV has been the subject of several other reports. Baird R W upgraded AeroVironment from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $213.50.

AeroVironment Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of AVAV traded down $16.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $219.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 249,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,223. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company's fifty day moving average price is $204.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 101.15 and a beta of 0.49. AeroVironment has a 52 week low of $116.51 and a 52 week high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business's revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total transaction of $110,058.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,654,452.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615. Insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at approximately $854,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares in the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the 1st quarter worth $924,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 53.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,911,000 after buying an additional 6,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 37.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,636 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 3,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company's stock.

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.