Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 4.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was up 4.5% during trading on Monday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $65.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $68.68 and last traded at $66.73. Approximately 2,214,771 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 3,303,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.88.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total transaction of $409,710.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 353,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,687,487.03. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.97, for a total value of $101,940.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 65,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,340,318.95. This trade represents a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,786 shares of company stock valued at $4,102,682. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 5.7%

The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 691.47 and a beta of 1.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.