Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stock Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,515,997 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 164,607 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $106,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,807,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 66.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.5% during the fourth 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. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,291,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.13, for a total value of $338,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 221,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,549,401.50. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $1,788,716.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,480. The trade was a 79.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,036 shares of company stock valued at $8,455,857. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

KTOS opened at $45.94 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a current ratio of 5.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 270.24 and a beta of 1.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.58 and a 52-week high of $134.00.

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

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.