Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.2778.

A number of research firms have weighed in on KTOS. Truist Financial raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $79.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 1.6%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $62.05 on Tuesday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $32.85 and a 1-year high of $134.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 477.34 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.08. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The firm had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.51 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $411,150.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,123 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,835.70. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.64, for a total transaction of $431,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 351,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,638,043.96. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 173,027 shares of company stock valued at $14,045,490 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $337,565,000 after purchasing an additional 148,622 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $280,402,000 after purchasing an additional 698,778 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,331,000 after purchasing an additional 209,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.