Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.73% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $488,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,944,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9,709.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,578 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,618,000 after purchasing an additional 987,408 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 140.5% during the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,599,740 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $42,201,000 after purchasing an additional 934,455 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 435.3% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 943,638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,893,000 after purchasing an additional 767,345 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $151,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 101,691 shares in the company, valued at $3,838,835.25. This trade represents a 3.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total transaction of $308,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 270,104 shares in the company, valued at $13,888,747.68. The trade was a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,786 shares of company stock worth $3,900,302 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS opened at $69.12 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.95 and a twelve month high of $72.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 691.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KTOS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of 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. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.64.

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.