Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 3,799 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 21.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,552 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 3,799 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $488,332,000 after buying an additional 1,728,179 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,118,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,402,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $71,329,000 after buying an additional 1,031,223 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9,709.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,578 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,618,000 after buying an additional 987,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 120.0% in the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,354,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,210,000 after buying an additional 738,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 5,758 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total value of $377,379.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,213.68. This trade represents a 37.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $473,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 346,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,412,482.78. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,177 shares of company stock worth $3,876,673 over the last ninety days. 2.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $65.66 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.11 and a 200-day moving average of $43.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 656.67 and a beta of 1.05. 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 twelve month low of $20.83 and a twelve month high of $72.70.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, August 11th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, August 8th. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.64.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.