AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Holdings Lifted by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 26.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,138 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 2,526 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $2,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position 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 worth $840,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in AeroVironment by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,920 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVAV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James downgraded shares of AeroVironment from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W upgraded AeroVironment from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $213.50.

AeroVironment Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV traded down $4.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $200.06. 344,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 265,925. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 93.92 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $206.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.21. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.51 and a 12 month high of $236.60.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The company's revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,581,799.88. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 in the last ninety days. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.