Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Up 2.2% – Here’s What Happened

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s share price rose 2.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $92.03 and last traded at $91.93. Approximately 2,875,598 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 3,163,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KTOS. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.53.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 2.2%

The stock has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 707.21 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.49.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.80, for a total transaction of $2,244,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $699,230.40. This trade represents a 76.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott I. Anderson sold 15,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.51, for a total value of $1,147,528.51. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 66,334 shares in the company, valued at $4,942,546.34. This trade represents a 18.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 659,865 shares of company stock valued at $50,524,536. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.8% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 98,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 13,345 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $209,382,000 after purchasing an additional 818,104 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 25.0% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 22,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 4,483 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,999,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.