Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading 7.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $95.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $78.35 and last traded at $77.88. Approximately 5,120,334 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 3,631,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.41.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $78.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.25, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 332,421 shares in the company, valued at $30,333,416.25. The trade was a 2.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.10, for a total transaction of $139,824.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 60,396 shares in the company, valued at $5,864,451.60. The trade was a 2.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 90,716 shares of company stock valued at $7,152,105 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rovida Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at about $82,315,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $488,332,000 after buying an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,118,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.2% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,163,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $64,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 7.6%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.57 and a 200-day moving average of $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a current ratio of 4.43. The company has a market capitalization of $13.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 778.88 and a beta of 1.11.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 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 $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate 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.