Short Interest in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Declines By 10.9%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a drop of 10.9% from the March 15th total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $18.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -303.50 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.29. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $12.12 and a 1-year high of $21.60. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.01%. The company had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $253.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,637,369.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.85, for a total transaction of $65,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,270,656. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,038 shares of company stock worth $738,519 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 120,800.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth about $33,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,777 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 100.9% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KTOS. Benchmark raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.14.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.