Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading 4.9% Higher – Here’s Why

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shot up 4.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $132.00 and last traded at $130.72. 4,849,357 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 4,625,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Jones Trading assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.94.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 4.9%

The stock has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,005.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $81.19 and its 200 day moving average is $74.86.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William A. Hoglund sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $5,576,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 147,193 shares in the company, valued at $10,943,799.55. The trade was a 33.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total transaction of $1,934,148.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,092,092.38. The trade was a 38.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 898,639 shares of company stock worth $72,622,719. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% 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.