Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors cut its Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stake by 8.2% in the first quarter, selling 231,733 shares and ending with about 2.59 million shares valued at $182.9 million.
• Insider selling picked up as CFO Deanna H. Lund and SVP Marie Mendoza both sold shares in July and June, and insiders sold 148,036 shares worth $8.46 million over the past three months.
• Kratos reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $0.16 versus $0.13 expected and revenue of $371 million, up 22.6% year over year, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $101.29.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,594,732 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 231,733 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.38% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $182,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KTOS. Balefire LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 23.7% during the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 6,620 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 143.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,999 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vision Retirement LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% in the 1st quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $264,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 285,405 shares in the company, valued at $15,083,654.25. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $86,895.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 64,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,733,414.71. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 148,036 shares of company stock valued at $8,455,857. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KTOS. BTIG Research cut their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.29.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $47.35 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $53.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.08. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.58 and a fifty-two week high of $134.00. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.53 and a beta of 1.07.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.The business had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current 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.

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