Clough Capital Partners L P Lowers Stock Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Clough Capital Partners L P trimmed its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 90.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,854 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 202,147 shares during the period. Clough Capital Partners L P’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $1,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 245.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 601,674 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,673,000 after purchasing an additional 427,396 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6,900.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 176,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,423,000 after purchasing an additional 174,305 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 435.1% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 43,011 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 34,973 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $21,013,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 93.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 964,973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $88,170,000 after buying an additional 465,100 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on KTOS. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Clear Str upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.35.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $56.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 330.35 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a current ratio of 5.63. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.00 and a 1 year high of $134.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.23, for a total value of $2,038,050.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 309,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,998,136.01. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $318,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 290,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,494,862.14. This trade represents a 1.69% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 196,278 shares of company stock worth $12,428,868. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.