Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.33.

A number of brokerages recently commented on KTOS. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $17.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -296.62 and a beta of 0.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 52 week low of $12.12 and a 52 week high of $21.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.16.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $253.39 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,295,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total value of $121,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 352,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,114,794.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,295,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,038 shares of company stock valued at $738,519 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,678 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 29,108 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 103,393 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 27,379 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 777,199 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,917,000 after purchasing an additional 190,343 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 65,490 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 22,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,572,976 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $196,054,000 after purchasing an additional 294,143 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.