Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 17,569 Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC acquired 17,569 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. for approximately $522,000 in Q1, marking a new investment in the aerospace sector.
• In Q1, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kratos by 11.7%, now owning over 16.4 million shares valued at $488.3 million, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.
• Kratos reported $0.11 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenue up 17.1% year-over-year, indicating significant growth potential.

Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,569 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $488,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9,709.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,578 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,618,000 after buying an additional 987,408 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 140.5% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,599,740 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $42,201,000 after acquiring an additional 934,455 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 435.3% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 943,638 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $24,893,000 after acquiring an additional 767,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $82,576,000 after acquiring an additional 203,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.9%

KTOS opened at $68.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 685.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's 50 day moving average is $51.65 and its 200-day moving average is $38.88. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.37 and a 1-year high of $72.70.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total transaction of $409,710.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 353,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,687,487.03. The trade was a 1.94% 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 Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.78, for a total value of $406,680.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,786 shares of company stock worth $4,443,682. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KTOS. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.64.

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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