Independent Advisor Alliance Makes New Investment in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance acquired 12,090 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, valued at approximately $359,000, marking a new position for the firm in the aerospace sector.
• Multiple large hedge funds, including Vanguard Group which increased its shares by 11.7%, continue to show significant investments in Kratos, with institutional investors owning about 75.92% of the company's stock.
• Kratos reported a revenue increase of 17.1% year-over-year with earnings per share (EPS) of $0.11, surpassing analyst expectations, and is projected to have an EPS of $0.31 for the current fiscal year.

Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,090 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $488,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,179 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,245 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 75.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,402,444 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $71,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,223 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $54,845,000 after purchasing an additional 172,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $47,440,000 after purchasing an additional 35,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, Director Bobbi Doorenbos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $247,904.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,033,416.50. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,786 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,682. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 0.9%

KTOS stock opened at $68.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 685.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50 day moving average is $51.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.84. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.37 and a twelve month high of $72.70.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KTOS. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. BTIG Research raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Benchmark raised 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 report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong 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 $57.64.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.