Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Has $400,000 Stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lowered its position in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 51.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,311 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVAV. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,177 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AeroVironment by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,932,000 after buying an additional 5,652 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 90,946 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,463,000 after buying an additional 56,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of AVAV opened at $180.92 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 81.50 and a beta of 0.50. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.67 and a 12-month high of $224.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AVAV. Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.20.

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.