Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.2941.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KTOS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $46.96 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $46.01 and a fifty-two week high of $134.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.97. The company has a quick ratio of 5.08, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 276.24 and a beta of 1.07.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The company had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $345.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $86,895.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 64,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,733,414.71. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $233,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $480,000. This represents a 32.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 148,036 shares of company stock valued at $8,455,857 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $104,807,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,398,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $106,162,000 after purchasing an additional 556,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,458,084 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $110,683,000 after purchasing an additional 476,049 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.