Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,296 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,638 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $2,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,719,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,301,000 after purchasing an additional 701,216 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $114,510,000 after purchasing an additional 307,907 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,245 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,116,164 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $82,204,000 after purchasing an additional 317,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,079,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $54,845,000 after purchasing an additional 172,030 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bobbi Doorenbos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $175,000. This represents a 50.00% 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, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.87, for a total transaction of $101,283.53. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,825,722.56. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,572 shares of company stock worth $5,251,396 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KTOS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Noble Financial upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $33.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 10.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $45.84 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $46.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 352.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.