Benchmark Issues Positive Forecast for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) had its price objective upped by Benchmark from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.01% from the stock’s current price.

KTOS has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.75.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS opened at $33.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 336.13 and a beta of 1.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12-month low of $17.91 and a 12-month high of $36.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.26.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.68% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, CEO Eric M. Demarco purchased 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.35 per share, for a total transaction of $250,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,267,482 shares in the company, valued at $33,398,150.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $40,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,639,214.16. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,168 shares of company stock valued at $2,537,940. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $488,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $114,510,000 after buying an additional 307,907 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $82,576,000 after buying an additional 203,245 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,116,164 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $82,204,000 after acquiring an additional 317,305 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,079,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $54,845,000 after acquiring an additional 172,030 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.