ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 181,145 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

ARS Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 537,905 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 181,145 shares during the quarter. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions makes up 3.2% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. ARS Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $49,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 87.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $274,000. USA Financial Formulas raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $365,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on KTOS. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 30,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $2,222,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,285 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,952.80. The trade was a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.09, for a total value of $14,818,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,196,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,629,199.33. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 672,711 shares of company stock worth $51,836,005 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 3.3%

KTOS opened at $79.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 612.51 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.68, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.90 and a 52 week high of $112.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.18.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 1.56%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.