Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 53,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,772,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $247,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,807,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $280,402,000 after purchasing an additional 698,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,398,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $106,162,000 after buying an additional 556,036 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 1.9%

KTOS opened at $47.21 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.75 and a 1-year high of $134.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 277.71 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.54.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The company had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on KTOS. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Clear Str raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.72, for a total transaction of $485,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 227,898 shares in the company, valued at $17,028,538.56. The trade was a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total value of $2,171,295.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 252,500 shares in the company, valued at $17,975,475. This trade represents a 10.78% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 187,278 shares of company stock worth $11,731,048. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.