Swiss National Bank Acquires 7,700 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS – Get Rating) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.24% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $3,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,940,085 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $39,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153,176 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,561,512 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $113,900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,464 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,696,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,543,000 after purchasing an additional 877,043 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 290.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 713,799 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,619,000 after purchasing an additional 531,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,386,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,304,000 after purchasing an additional 460,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $11.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, February 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.79.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $14.07 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.56. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.90 and a 1 year high of $16.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.95 and a beta of 0.80.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The aerospace company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 3.00% and a positive return on equity of 1.68%. The company had revenue of $231.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 4,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.11, for a total transaction of $65,428.07. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $467,986.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 4,637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.11, for a total transaction of $65,428.07. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,167 shares in the company, valued at $467,986.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 7,211 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $100,954.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,760 shares in the company, valued at $598,640. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,295 shares of company stock valued at $288,800. 2.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Profile

(Get Rating)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc provides mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. Its products include microwave electronic products, satellite communications, modular systems, and rocket support operating. The company was founded on December 19, 1994 and is headquartered in Round Rock, TX.