Anyone interested in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) should probably be aware that the Senior VP & GM of Unmanned Systems, Trace Stevenson, recently divested US$350k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$183 each.
The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 43% in their holding.
AeroVironment Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Notably, that recent sale by Trace Stevenson is the biggest insider sale of AeroVironment shares that we've seen in the last year. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$166). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
AeroVironment insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
NasdaqGS:AVAV Insider Trading Volume March 10th 2024
I will like AeroVironment better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Does AeroVironment Boast High Insider Ownership?
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. AeroVironment insiders own about US$64m worth of shares. That equates to 1.4% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.