Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $96.53.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $42.82 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.26 and a 200-day moving average of $57.70. The company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 251.88 and a beta of 1.11. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1 year low of $41.83 and a 1 year high of $134.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.99.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 3.07%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.16, for a total transaction of $393,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 288,111 shares in the company, valued at $16,180,313.76. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.78, for a total transaction of $341,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,511 shares in the company, valued at $13,341,866.58. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 379,513 shares of company stock valued at $23,799,552 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vision Retirement LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% during the first quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 115.4% during the fourth quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp now owns 420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 61.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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. Its offerings support unmanned systems, satellite communications, space operations, missile defense, hypersonic programs, launch systems, and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR) missions.

The company provides unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime systems, including target drones and other autonomous platforms used for testing, training, and operational missions.