Cornerstone Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,610 AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,610 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 784.5% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 10,348 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 74.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,399 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,190,000 after purchasing an additional 35,095 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 38,678 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after purchasing an additional 9,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,232 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $158.09 on Friday. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.24 and a 12-month high of $184.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.66 and a quick ratio of 3.16.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

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

AeroVironment 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.