Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) traded up 1.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $54.09 and last traded at $53.69. Approximately 2,128,912 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 4,399,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $135.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Clear Str raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.47.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 1.4%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.54 and its 200-day moving average is $65.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.99. The company has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 315.82 and a beta of 1.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 3.07%. The firm had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total transaction of $264,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 285,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,083,654.25. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. 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, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.33, for a total value of $19,299,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 761,632 shares in the company, valued at $48,995,786.56. The trade was a 28.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 433,688 shares of company stock worth $26,990,882 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Vision Retirement LLC boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% during the first quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 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.