Comerica Bank Grows Stock Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3%, acquiring an additional 4,196 shares to bring its total ownership to approximately 130,697 shares valued at $3.88 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Invesco Ltd., have significantly increased their holdings in Kratos, with Vanguard boosting its position by 11.7% and Invesco growing its stake by 75.2% during the first quarter.
• Kratos reported a 17.1% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching $351.5 million, and exceeded earnings expectations with an EPS of $0.11, outperforming the consensus estimate of $0.09.

Comerica Bank grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,697 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.09% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $3,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter worth $30,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% during 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 during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.51, for a total value of $222,040.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,154 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,968.54. This represents a 8.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total value of $325,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 313,327 shares in the company, valued at $20,397,587.70. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,419 shares of company stock valued at $3,242,534. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KTOS shares. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, August 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.64.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS traded down $0.37 on Wednesday, hitting $65.72. The company had a trading volume of 625,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,310,928. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.83 and a 52-week high of $72.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.61 and a 200 day moving average of $41.74. The company has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a PE ratio of 658.41 and a beta of 1.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%.The business had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.