Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Sold by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 286,531 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 61,969 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $21,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,331,000 after acquiring an additional 209,189 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,072,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $189,383,000 after acquiring an additional 247,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,539,840 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $140,695,000 after acquiring an additional 444,956 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Here are the key news stories impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kratos continues to benefit from rising defense spending and demand for unmanned systems, with recent results showing 22.6% revenue growth and a record backlog.
• Neutral Sentiment: A market article singled out KTOS as a long-term growth name after its pullback, arguing the recent weakness may have improved the entry point versus earlier highs. 3 Undervalued Stocks to Buy Before the Market’s Next Big Move
• Negative Sentiment: Director and executive insider sales, including a 3,000-share sale by Bradley L. Boyd and additional sales by Phillip D. Carrai and Marie Mendoza, may be adding pressure to the stock. SEC filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

KTOS has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, Director Scott I. Anderson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.11, for a total value of $1,336,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,334 shares in the company, valued at $4,574,372.74. The trade was a 22.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 6,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.29, for a total transaction of $559,848.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 59,369 shares in the company, valued at $5,301,058.01. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 170,540 shares of company stock worth $13,138,275 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $53.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 314.53 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $71.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.48. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.06 and a 1-year high of $134.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

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.