Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Takes $794,000 Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 15,927 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KTOS. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 115.4% in the 4th quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp now owns 420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Vision Retirement LLC boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% in the 1st quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on KTOS shares. Wedbush started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $135.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.47.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $47.82 on Monday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.09 and a 52-week high of $134.00. The company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 281.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a current ratio of 5.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.68.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.07% and a net margin of 2.03%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.33, for a total transaction of $19,299,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 761,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,995,786.56. The trade was a 28.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scot Jarvis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $635,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,123 shares in the company, valued at $4,135,310.50. This trade represents a 13.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 389,688 shares of company stock worth $24,397,492 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.