Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Climb 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shot up 1.9% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $47.36 and last traded at $47.02. 4,669,653 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 4,333,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.64 and a 200-day moving average of $59.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a current ratio of 5.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 276.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.07% and a net margin of 2.03%.The company’s revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.78, for a total transaction of $341,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 273,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,341,866.58. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total transaction of $329,910.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 295,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,909,005.60. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold 396,188 shares of company stock worth $24,636,142 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 45.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 3,965 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 140,856 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,023,000 after purchasing an additional 32,315 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 53.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 6,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 2,391 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 103.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,777 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology company that develops products and systems for national security, defense and commercial applications. The company primarily serves the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, while also supporting allied governments and selected commercial customers.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and ground systems, target drones, tactical drones, satellite communications systems, space-related products, missile defense technology, hypersonic and high-speed systems, radar and command-and-control solutions, and microwave electronics.