Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $46.95, but opened at $50.11. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares last traded at $50.9140, with a volume of 1,201,993 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Clear Str upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.35.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 288.84 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.34.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $371.00 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $411,150.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 75,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,835.70. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $1,788,716.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,480. This trade represents a 79.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 180,278 shares of company stock worth $11,243,918 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 190,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 35,098 shares in the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $791,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 178.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,570 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 393,614 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,686,000 after purchasing an additional 41,265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.