Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,492 AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,100,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVAV. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $991,089,000 after purchasing an additional 433,830 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $75,690,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 75.6% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,019 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $173,540,000 after buying an additional 262,239 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 550.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 178,204 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $56,115,000 after buying an additional 150,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. bought a new position in AeroVironment in the third quarter valued at about $37,787,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AeroVironment news, CAO Brian Charles Shackley sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.92, for a total value of $50,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,504,014.48. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,000,300. This trade represents a 0.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,474 shares of company stock worth $1,390,404 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AeroVironment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat and commentators highlight a value entry / technical bottom after the March selloff, noting institutional accumulation and a still‑large backlog that could support a rebound. AeroVironment Touches Down On Value Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms kept Buy/Overweight ratings even while trimming price targets, signaling analyst conviction that upside remains once near‑term headwinds clear. Analyst notes (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Q3 results showed revenue up ~143% YoY (~$408M) but missed revenue and EPS estimates; FY‑2026 EPS guidance was trimmed to $2.75–$3.10 — strong growth but weaker near‑term visibility. Q3 miss and outlook (Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Backlog and demand signals remain constructive (record backlog cited), which supports medium‑term revenue prospects if contract timing stabilizes. QuiverQuant earnings/opinion summary
• Negative Sentiment: Contract uncertainty: reports of the Space Force SCAR program stop‑work/possible termination create ~$1.4–1.7B of backlog risk and were a major reason for the recent selloff. SCAR contract uncertainty
• Negative Sentiment: Financing risk: disclosure of a $727M notes issuance raises leverage, tightens covenants and increases liquidity risk — a new material consideration for investors. Notes issuance risk (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal & insider headline risk: Pomerantz launched an investor probe and the CFO disclosed a small sale of shares — both raise short‑term headline noise. Pomerantz investigation (PR Newswire) CFO Form 4
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the feeds looks inconsistent (reported as 0/NaN) — no clear short squeeze signal from the available data. Short interest notes (Benzinga)

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $211.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.29, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of -48.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.12. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $417.86.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 13.93% and a positive return on equity of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $408.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.94 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 143.4% on a year-over-year basis. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.750-3.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AeroVironment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $415.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.78.

AeroVironment Company Profile

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.