Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Up 8.5% – Still a Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares were up 8.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $63.59 and last traded at $63.40. Approximately 4,195,582 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 4,403,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 8.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 372.94 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.78.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total transaction of $2,171,295.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 252,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,975,475. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $1,788,716.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at $456,480. This represents a 79.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 189,630 shares of company stock worth $13,279,052. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Vision Retirement LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% during the 1st quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.