Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $34.83 and last traded at $35.10, with a volume of 686639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 345.73 and a beta of 1.07.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $275.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.47 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.68% and a net margin of 1.31%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $41,940.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,555,442.76. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 11,516 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total value of $322,217.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,573.70. This trade represents a 48.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,661,646. 2.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,694,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,792,000 after acquiring an additional 305,925 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,798,859 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $70,951,000 after purchasing an additional 304,088 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth $6,310,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 51.5% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,543 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,438,000 after buying an additional 245,422 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,032,888 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $93,966,000 after buying an additional 233,051 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.