Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 18,085 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 4.5%, selling 18,085 shares and now owns approximately 386,613 shares worth $11.48 million.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, including Aspect Partners LLC, which raised its holdings by 1,900% in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $50.08, reflecting optimism about future performance.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 386,613 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 18,085 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.25% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $11,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 653.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 2,307 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total transaction of $515,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 384,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,214,990.04. This represents a 3.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $202,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,514,693.32. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,572 shares of company stock worth $5,586,226 in the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of KTOS traded up $1.11 on Friday, hitting $59.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,454,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,779,339. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $44.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.91 and a fifty-two week high of $61.43. The firm 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 data on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.85% and a net margin of 1.68%. The business had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

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.