Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Purchases 15,000 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 150.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KTOS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,719,508 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $388,301,000 after buying an additional 701,216 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $114,510,000 after acquiring an additional 307,907 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $82,576,000 after acquiring an additional 203,245 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,116,164 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $82,204,000 after purchasing an additional 317,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.0% during the 4th 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. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ KTOS traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.12. The company had a trading volume of 8,050,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,504. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.79 and a 200 day moving average of $34.81. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.91 and a 1-year high of $61.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 454.80 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $247,904.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at $12,033,416.50. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total value of $308,520.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 270,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,888,747.68. The trade was a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,572 shares of company stock worth $5,586,226. 2.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.25.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.