Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ (KTOS) Buy Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $80.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on KTOS. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.41.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $48.19 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average of $55.44 and a 200-day moving average of $76.88. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 52-week low of $46.01 and a 52-week high of $134.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 283.47 and a beta of 1.07.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.The firm had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.37, for a total value of $338,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 302,126 shares in the company, valued at $14,613,834.62. The trade was a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $86,895.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 64,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,733,414.71. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,453 shares of company stock worth $9,466,223. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 148,622 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased 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 valued at $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% in 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 period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted 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 worth $247,409,000 after buying an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,072,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $189,383,000 after buying an additional 247,652 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.