Rokos Capital Management LLP Buys Shares of 13,677 AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,677 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,504,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 4th quarter worth about $94,655,000. Swedbank AB lifted its position in AeroVironment by 22,773.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 261,214 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $63,185,000 after buying an additional 260,072 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in AeroVironment by 4,770.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 260,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,941,000 after buying an additional 254,864 shares during the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 235,685 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 3,880.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 206,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,058,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVAV shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $248.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $350.00 to $230.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised AeroVironment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.68.

AeroVironment Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of AVAV opened at $154.24 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a current ratio of 4.30. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.20 and a 1 year high of $417.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a PE ratio of -41.91, a P/E/G ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 1.39.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 29th. The aerospace company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.37. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 9.00% and a positive return on equity of 3.71%. The firm had revenue of $641.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 133.3% compared to the same quarter last year. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. Analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AeroVironment news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.41, for a total value of $43,602.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,546,264.41. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About AeroVironment

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.