Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 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 Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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 value of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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 value of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $6,114,794.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,538 shares of company stock worth $763,479. 2.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $1,628,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $45,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,380 shares during the last quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $2,608,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 192.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 80,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 52,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 188,105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 66,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 0.1 %

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $17.84 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12 month low of $12.12 and a 12 month high of $21.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -297.33 and a beta of 0.81.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted 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. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.01%. The business had revenue of $273.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark 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 note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.