Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) CFO Sells $197,340.00 in Stock

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.89, for a total value of $197,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,632,592.97. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of KTOS stock opened at $32.46 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.78 and a 1 year high of $35.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.50. The company has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 324.63 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,944,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,617,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,292,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after buying an additional 402,588 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.8% in the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,694,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,792,000 after buying an additional 305,925 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $70,951,000 after buying an additional 304,088 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. B. Riley raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.30.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.