Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 203,630 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 10.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,789,606 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 203,630 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 1.17% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $53,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,284 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KTOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Noble Financial upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.55.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.28. The company had a trading volume of 4,807,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,997,022. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.91 and a 12-month high of $47.09. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 332.95 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $37.95 and its 200 day moving average is $32.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.87, for a total transaction of $101,283.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,825,722.56. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $247,904.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,033,416.50. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 138,572 shares of company stock valued at $4,869,566. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.