Heritage Trust Co Purchases New Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• Heritage Trust Co acquired 20,990 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter, valued at approximately $623,000.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in Kratos during the fourth quarter, with FMR LLC owning over 4.3 million shares worth approximately $114.5 million.
• Kratos reported earnings per share of $0.12 for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations and indicating a 9.2% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Heritage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 20,990 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KTOS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock traded down $0.81 on Tuesday, hitting $58.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,962,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,260,586. The firm has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 450.43 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $17.91 and a one year high of $62.80.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.51, for a total transaction of $222,040.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,339,968.54. This represents a 8.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total transaction of $308,520.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 270,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,888,747.68. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 145,572 shares of company stock worth $5,644,656. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.