Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates trimmed its stake in Kratos (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 1.8%, selling 53,033 shares and now holds 2,815,074 shares (~1.67% of the company) valued at about $257.2 million, with institutional investors owning 75.92% of the stock.
• Multiple brokerages raised price targets recently (e.g., BTIG to $115, Canaccord to $125, KeyCorp to $130, B. Riley to $128) and MarketBeat's consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $98.28 target after Kratos beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.18 vs $0.14; revenue $345.1M, +21.9% YoY).
• Insiders sold 574,731 shares worth $50.5 million over the last three months (insider ownership now 2.37%), including notable sales by Stacey G. Rock and David M. Carter.

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,815,074 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 53,033 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 1.67% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $257,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rovida Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $236,268,000 after buying an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the third quarter valued at $91,901,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $280,402,000 after acquiring an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KTOS. BTIG Research increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of KTOS opened at $92.47 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.23. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.78 and a 12-month high of $134.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 711.36 and a beta of 1.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.63%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total value of $1,934,148.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,092,092.38. The trade was a 38.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider David M. Carter sold 8,123 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.40, for a total transaction of $856,164.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 81,816 shares in the company, valued at $8,623,406.40. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 574,731 shares of company stock worth $50,506,306 in the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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