Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys 5,200 Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. $AVAV

Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) by 558.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in AeroVironment were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the third quarter worth $29,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in AeroVironment by 72.1% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in AeroVironment in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on AeroVironment from $390.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AeroVironment from $391.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research raised AeroVironment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.78.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CAO Brian Charles Shackley sold 200 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $42,504.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,340.88. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $53,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,573,082.52. The trade was a 0.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 950 shares of company stock worth $185,534. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $172.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.02. AeroVironment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.00 and a 12-month high of $417.86. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.85, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 4.54, a current ratio of 5.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $408.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.94 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 13.93% and a positive return on equity of 3.26%. The company’s revenue was up 143.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about AeroVironment

Here are the key news stories impacting AeroVironment this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or promoted class action lawsuits against AeroVironment, with investors alleging misleading disclosures during the June 25, 2025 to March 10, 2026 period and a lead-plaintiff deadline of July 27, 2026. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Levi & Korsinsky said it is examining AeroVironment’s risk disclosures, alleging executives privately knew the company’s $1.7 billion SCAR contract faced imminent termination, adding to fraud concerns. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Separate firms including Pomerantz, Berger Montague, Glancy Prongay, Faruqi & Faruqi, Rosen, Kirby McInerney, and others also issued alerts, signaling mounting legal overhang and potential distraction/costs for AVAV. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: AeroVironment also had a product/operational update on expanding deployment of its connected-vehicle traffic information platform, which is supportive of the business but appears less important to near-term stock moves than the litigation news. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted AVAV has experienced sharp recent share-price swings, but the immediate trading tone is being driven more by the lawsuit headlines than by fundamentals. Article Title

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.