Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 93.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 964,973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 465,100 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.57% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $88,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. WJ Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $239,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 412.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,491 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 3,615 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,625,000. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 10.0% during the third quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 8,364 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $348,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KTOS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $79.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS stock opened at $95.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.18. The company has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 733.21 and a beta of 1.12. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.78 and a twelve month high of $134.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider David M. Carter sold 8,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.40, for a total transaction of $856,164.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 81,816 shares in the company, valued at $8,623,406.40. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total value of $1,934,148.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,487 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,092.38. This represents a 38.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 550,763 shares of company stock valued at $48,771,342. Insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.