Moran Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 16,935 Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,935 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,032,888 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $93,966,000 after purchasing an additional 233,051 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $82,883,000 after buying an additional 29,278 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,798,859 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $70,951,000 after acquiring an additional 304,088 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,694,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,792,000 after acquiring an additional 305,925 shares during the period. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,740 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,398,000 after acquiring an additional 146,319 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $526,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 263,283 shares in the company, valued at $6,932,241.39. This trade represents a 7.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco purchased 9,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.35 per share, for a total transaction of $250,325.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,267,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,398,150.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 115,181 shares of company stock valued at $3,256,346. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on KTOS shares. B. Riley raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $29.60 on Thursday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.78 and a 1 year high of $35.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 296.03 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.08 and its 200 day moving average is $26.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.61.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.