Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 4,566 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 155% compared to the average volume of 1,789 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 352,641 shares in the company, valued at $6,114,794.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $121,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 352,641 shares in the company, valued at $6,114,794.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,538 shares of company stock worth $763,479 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 57,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 190,604 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,332 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the period. Finally, LGL Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 51,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KTOS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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 research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial boosted 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 research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Benchmark boosted 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 research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $17.77 on Thursday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $12.12 and a 1-year high of $21.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.23 and a 200 day moving average of $18.43. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of -296.12 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.