Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares traded up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $132.00 and last traded at $130.72. 4,849,357 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 4,625,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KTOS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday. B. Riley increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.94.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 4.9%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.86. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 1,005.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 3.68, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 191,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.28, for a total value of $17,306,585.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 687,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,032,922.76. This trade represents a 21.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 8,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total value of $792,468.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,802 shares in the company, valued at $911,389.96. The trade was a 46.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 898,639 shares of company stock valued at $72,622,719. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,577 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $91,901,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,475,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.