Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 1.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) rose 1.6% on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $112.00 to $134.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $121.57 and last traded at $119.72. Approximately 4,094,452 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 4,750,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.86.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas set a $80.00 target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $135.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total transaction of $1,934,148.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,092,092.38. The trade was a 38.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.09, for a total value of $14,818,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,196,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,629,199.33. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 898,639 shares of company stock valued at $72,622,719 over the last quarter. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 193.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $20.51 billion, a PE ratio of 934.69 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.51.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 1.56%.The business had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.