ARK Investment Management LLC Sells 685,780 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

ARK Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,975,028 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 685,780 shares during the quarter. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions makes up 0.8% of ARK Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $92,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 228,059 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 25,703 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at $160,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 287,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 33,500 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 113.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 311,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,727,000 after acquiring an additional 165,356 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 93.6% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 27,266 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 13,180 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of KTOS stock opened at $23.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 340.29 and a beta of 1.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.71 and a fifty-two week high of $25.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.63.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $300.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $276.08 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. Analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 273,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,288,307.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CEO Eric M. Demarco bought 12,396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.19 per share, for a total transaction of $250,275.24. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,058,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,366,350.16. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 273,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,288,307.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,091 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,101 over the last ninety days. 2.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KTOS shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.10.

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.