Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Free Report) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,958 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 35,991 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of AeroVironment worth $29,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of AeroVironment by 299.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,231 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 740.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 63,919 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $9,836,000 after buying an additional 56,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,409 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,141,000 after buying an additional 2,601 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total transaction of $78,697.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,273,480.56. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV traded down $4.35 on Friday, hitting $156.99. The stock had a trading volume of 484,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 340,080. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $166.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.33. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.38 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). The firm had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.