GSA Capital Partners LLP Invests $798,000 in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP has acquired 26,876 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) valued at approximately $798,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Despite various institutional investors increasing their stakes, insiders sold a total of 145,572 shares worth around $5.64 million in recent transactions.
• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions reported a quarterly revenue of $302.60 million, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year increase of 9.2%.

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,876 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $114,510,000 after purchasing an additional 307,907 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,245 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,116,164 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $82,204,000 after purchasing an additional 317,305 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,079,022 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $54,845,000 after purchasing an additional 172,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,798,339 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $47,440,000 after buying an additional 35,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KTOS has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $40.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

KTOS traded down $1.99 on Friday, hitting $56.71. 4,796,199 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,722,225. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $61.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 436.26 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.51, for a total value of $222,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,339,968.54. This represents a 8.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 145,572 shares of company stock worth $5,644,656. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

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.