Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Position Lifted by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 52.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,194 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,294 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 15,586 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,145 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 8,416 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 715,640 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $21,247,000 after acquiring an additional 123,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,052 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KTOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 1.9%

KTOS stock traded up $1.11 on Friday, hitting $59.77. 2,454,880 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,779,339. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.91 and a twelve month high of $61.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The business's fifty day moving average is $44.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 459.80 and a beta of 1.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.97, for a total value of $101,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 65,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,340,318.95. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.43, for a total transaction of $181,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 46,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,100,819.49. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,586,226. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.