Invesco Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 75.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 1.57% of the company valued at $71.3 million.
• Several other institutional investors like Costello Asset Management and Aspect Partners LLC also established new positions in Kratos, showcasing a significant interest from the institutional investment community.
• Kratos reported earnings of $0.11 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $351.5 million, marking a 17.1% year-over-year increase.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 75.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,402,444 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,031,223 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.57% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $71,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.35, for a total transaction of $136,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 63,357 shares in the company, valued at $4,330,450.95. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.51, for a total transaction of $222,040.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,339,968.54. The trade was a 8.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,786 shares of company stock worth $4,443,682. Corporate insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of KTOS opened at $68.50 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.37 and a 1-year high of $72.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.65 and a 200 day moving average of $38.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 685.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 3.88.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on KTOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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, the stock 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.

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