AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Price Down 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) fell 3.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $196.74 and last traded at $201.91. 1,049,881 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 1,727,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $390.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on AeroVironment from $330.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.78.

AeroVironment Stock Down 3.9%

The firm has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 5.51, a quick ratio of 4.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $214.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.93.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $408.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.94 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 13.93%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 143.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.750-3.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.29, for a total value of $49,322.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 49,501 shares in the company, valued at $9,766,052.29. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.55, for a total transaction of $88,921.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,026 shares in the company, valued at $3,598,638.30. This represents a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,975 shares of company stock worth $740,324 over the last ninety days. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,530,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,111,585,000 after acquiring an additional 51,959 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the third quarter worth $314,890,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $213,956,000 after acquiring an additional 71,903 shares during the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 722,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $174,681,000 after acquiring an additional 235,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 686,273 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $216,101,000 after purchasing an additional 101,713 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.