Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in AeroVironment during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 327 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of AVAV stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $203.76. 362,161 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 337,215. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $177.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.49. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.78 and a beta of 0.51. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.94 and a 12-month high of $224.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.48 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Baird R W raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total value of $91,187.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,052.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,891 shares of company stock worth $1,850,601. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.