Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd Sells 1,896 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd cut its stake in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 82,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,896 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $12,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the third quarter valued at about $1,524,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,843 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 163,939 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,870,000 after acquiring an additional 4,971 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AVAV shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $149.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.01. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.59 and a 12-month high of $236.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.99 and a beta of 0.52.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The business had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total transaction of $78,697.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.27% 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.