LPL Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,798 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 20,319 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $3,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 118,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 16,577 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 241,133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,361,000 after purchasing an additional 35,433 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 653.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 410,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,828,000 after purchasing an additional 137,381 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on KTOS. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.64.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, Director Bobbi Doorenbos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $247,904.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,033,416.50. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 101,786 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,682. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $68.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.88, a current ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.37 and a fifty-two week high of $72.70. The stock has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 685.07 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.88.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $305.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share 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.