Sapient Capital LLC Sells 262,550 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 94.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,866 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 262,550 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,698 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,945 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 37,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,868,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $62.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.99, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 367.18 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.68. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.09 and a 12-month high of $134.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Clear Str raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total transaction of $1,788,716.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,480. This trade represents a 79.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $318,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 290,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,494,862.14. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 144,036 shares of company stock worth $8,034,017 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% 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.