Strs Ohio Invests $374,000 in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Key Points

• Strs Ohio invested $374,000 in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. by acquiring 12,600 shares during the first quarter, highlighting growing interest in the aerospace sector.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd., adjusted their stakes in Kratos, with 75.92% of the company's stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Recent analyst upgrades reflect positive sentiment, with target prices set as high as $72.00, indicating an average "Moderate Buy" rating for the stock as of now.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $488,332,000 after buying an additional 1,728,179 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth $41,118,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 75.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,402,444 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $71,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,223 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9,709.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,578 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $29,618,000 after purchasing an additional 987,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 120.0% during the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,354,312 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $40,210,000 after acquiring an additional 738,743 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTOS has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.64.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,408 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.45, for a total transaction of $97,785.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 61,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,301,941.35. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.19, for a total value of $256,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,436.32. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,430 shares of company stock valued at $4,745,162. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $80.72 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $64.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.19. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.69 and a fifty-two week high of $82.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 3.88. The company has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 807.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.67 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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