AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

AVAV has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut AeroVironment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. New Street Research set a $365.00 price target on AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on AeroVironment from $325.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $356.07.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $329.64 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a PE ratio of -516.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.09. AeroVironment has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $417.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $329.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.42.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 28th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $132.62 million for the quarter. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. As a group, analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $399.74, for a total transaction of $398,940.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,724,575.76. This trade represents a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,717 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $654,177.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,567. The trade was a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in AeroVironment by 60.0% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in AeroVironment by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in AeroVironment by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in AeroVironment by 0.6% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,023 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.