Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 438,943 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 27.4%, holding approximately 1,160,797 shares valued at about $34.46 million as of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Caitong International Asset Management and Nuveen LLC, added to their positions in Kratos, which is now 75.92% owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Kratos, with a consensus target price of $57.64 and various buy ratings from prominent research firms.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,160,797 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 438,943 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.76% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $34,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 12,449 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,479 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,441 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,993 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.78, for a total value of $406,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 264,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,898,935.72. This represents a 2.22% 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 Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total value of $409,710.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 353,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,687,487.03. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,786 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,682 over the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.64.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS traded up $0.83 during trading on Monday, reaching $69.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,394,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,343,686. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.58 and a twelve month high of $72.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 693.55 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average is $51.65 and its 200 day moving average is $38.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a current ratio of 4.43.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

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.