Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Bought by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn grew its position in Kratos by 4,521.5% in Q3, adding 360,315 shares to hold 368,284 shares (about 0.22% of the company) worth roughly $33.65 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is largely positive — Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $125 and multiple firms issued buy/overweight ratings, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $98.28 target.
• Kratos beat estimates with $0.18 EPS and $345.1M revenue (up 21.9% YoY), but valuation is elevated (P/E ~688) and insiders sold about 574,731 shares (~$50.5M) last quarter.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 4,521.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,284 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 360,315 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $33,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 190,481 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 35,098 shares during the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $791,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,570 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,286 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 393,614 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $11,686,000 after buying an additional 41,265 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on KTOS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $93.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. JonesTrading initiated coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $89.46 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.78 and a 52 week high of $134.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 688.21 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.42.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 90,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,956,696. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 6,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total value of $533,747.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,254,039.83. The trade was a 19.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 574,731 shares of company stock worth $50,506,306 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

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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