Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Sold by Clough Capital Partners L P

Clough Capital Partners L P trimmed its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 90.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,854 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 202,147 shares during the period. Clough Capital Partners L P’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $1,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $337,565,000 after purchasing an additional 148,622 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of 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 worth $280,402,000 after purchasing an additional 698,778 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $278,331,000 after purchasing an additional 209,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $247,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total transaction of $2,171,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 252,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,975,475. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,480. This represents a 79.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 196,278 shares of company stock worth $12,428,868 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KTOS shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $80.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. BTIG Research cut their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.35.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of KTOS opened at $56.16 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a current ratio of 5.63. The company has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 330.35 and a beta of 1.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.00 and a fifty-two week high of $134.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.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 firm posted $0.12 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.