Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,301 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% in the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,441 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.5% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,993 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.43, for a total value of $181,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,100,819.49. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.97, for a total transaction of $101,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 65,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,340,318.95. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,586,226 in the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 0.4%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $59.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.91 and a 12-month high of $61.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.79 and its 200 day moving average is $34.81. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 454.80 and a beta of 1.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.25 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.