Golden State Wealth Management LLC Invests $31,000 in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 29.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,951,393 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $391,254,000 after buying an additional 439,717 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,582,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $317,366,000 after buying an additional 7,471 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 634,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,180,000 after buying an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 25.5% during the third quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 592,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $118,723,000 after buying an additional 120,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 155.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 321,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $64,457,000 after buying an additional 195,443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AVAV. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AVAV opened at $179.35 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.07 and a beta of 0.52. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.38 and a 52-week high of $236.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.68.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The business’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 earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.