AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Down 2.7% – Time to Sell?

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) dropped 2.7% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $142.42 and last traded at $143.24. Approximately 1,539,630 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 1,677,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on AeroVironment from $248.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AeroVironment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.89.

AeroVironment Stock Down 0.8%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $158.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.41.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $480.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $451.95 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.04% and a negative net margin of 5.77%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen Page sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total value of $38,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 48,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,347,484.31. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total transaction of $41,381.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,592,271.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 805 shares of company stock valued at $142,671 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $574,566,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $213,956,000 after purchasing an additional 71,903 shares during the period. Heard Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 722,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $174,681,000 after purchasing an additional 235,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the fourth quarter worth $94,655,000. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 18.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 490,426 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,772,000 after purchasing an additional 77,619 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies autonomous systems, uncrewed aircraft, loitering munitions and counter-uncrewed-aircraft systems. Its portfolio includes small unmanned aircraft systems such as Raven, Puma and Wasp, as well as larger platforms including JUMP 20 and Quantix Recon.

The company is also known for its Switchblade family of loitering munitions, which combine surveillance, target identification and precision strike capabilities. AeroVironment provides related ground control systems, sensors, software, communications equipment, training and support services for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Founded in 1971 by aerospace engineer Paul B.