PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 448.5% during the first quarter, now holding 9,352 shares valued at approximately $278,000.
• Several other hedge funds also raised their stakes, bringing the total institutional ownership of Kratos Defense & Security to 75.92%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Kratos' stock, with price targets ranging from $50.00 to $70.00, while the consensus rating hovers around "Moderate Buy".

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 448.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,352 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,647 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KTOS. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.51, for a total transaction of $222,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,339,968.54. This represents a 8.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.35, for a total transaction of $136,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 63,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,330,450.95. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,786 shares of company stock worth $4,443,682. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS opened at $68.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.88. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.37 and a fifty-two week high of $72.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 685.07 and a beta of 1.04. 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 results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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