Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,799 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 118.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,172 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,799 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,860,954 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $319,082,000 after acquiring an additional 209,359 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 106.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 556,853 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,106,000 after acquiring an additional 287,730 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 492,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 304,460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,956,000 after acquiring an additional 44,748 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 288,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,319,000 after acquiring an additional 4,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.20.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In related news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total value of $176,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total value of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,310. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AVAV opened at $158.09 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.24 and a 1 year high of $184.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of -36.68 and a beta of 0.44.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.30. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal 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.