Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Invests $794,000 in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 15,927 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 190,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 35,098 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $791,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,570 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 2,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 393,614 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,686,000 after buying an additional 41,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KTOS. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $105.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.47.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CFO Deanna Lund sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.55, for a total transaction of $242,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 280,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,617,643.85. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total transaction of $329,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 295,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,909,005.60. The trade was a 2.32% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 389,688 shares of company stock worth $24,397,492. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $47.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.09 and a 1 year high of $134.00. The company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a PE ratio of 281.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.68.

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

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.