Comerica Bank Has $3.27 Million Stock Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Key Points

• Comerica Bank cut its stake in Kratos by 83.4% in Q4, selling 215,841 shares and leaving it with 43,070 shares valued at about $3.27 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers, offloading 168,027 shares worth roughly $13.56 million last quarter, including Director William Hoglund’s sale of 30,500 shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Institutional investors own about 75.92% of KTOS, and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $98.28.

Comerica Bank cut its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 83.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,070 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 215,841 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $3,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,673 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,732,000 after acquiring an additional 26,946 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,828,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,048,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6,900.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 176,831 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $13,423,000 after acquiring an additional 174,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,013,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total value of $2,171,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 252,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,975,475. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.91, for a total value of $590,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 213,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,393,375.75. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 168,027 shares of company stock worth $13,561,140. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $62.05 on Monday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.85 and a 52 week high of $134.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.53 and a 200-day moving average of $85.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 4.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 477.34 and a beta of 1.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.63%.The business had revenue of $345.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $327.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KTOS. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company 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.

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