Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 432,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 476,807 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $39,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 82.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 983 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 10.6% in the third quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 121,840 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,133,000 after purchasing an additional 11,705 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,792 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eos Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $749,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.28, for a total transaction of $591,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 100,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,322.76. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.30, for a total value of $801,450.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 219,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,094,065.30. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 912,815 shares of company stock worth $74,673,421. 2.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $85.25 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.90 and a 12-month high of $134.00. The company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 655.82 and a beta of 1.09. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.34.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.01 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $80.00 target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.28.

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.