Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 3.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price was up 3.7% during trading on Monday after Citizens Jmp raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $125.00. Citizens Jmp currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $119.63 and last traded at $117.86. Approximately 5,016,997 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 4,840,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.70.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.09, for a total transaction of $14,818,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,196,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,629,199.33. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.80, for a total transaction of $2,244,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $699,230.40. The trade was a 76.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 885,511 shares of company stock worth $70,988,315 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 193.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 3.68. The company has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 906.69 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.14 and its 200-day moving average is $73.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The company’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

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.