Van ECK Associates Corp Has $1.73 Million Stock Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 70.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,217 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.07% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 57,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.1% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,332 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 67,899 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 55,730 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on KTOS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Raymond James upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total value of $27,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,637,369.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.87, for a total transaction of $73,045.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 223,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,656,743.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total value of $27,075.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,637,369.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,538 shares of company stock valued at $773,419. Company insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 5.8 %

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $19.84 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.53. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $12.88 and a one year high of $21.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -330.67 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.01% and a negative net margin of 0.86%. The business had revenue of $277.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.