Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 1,728,179 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,728,179 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.73% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $488,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KTOS. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

KTOS stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $68.94. 1,166,196 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,342,223. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.92. The company has a quick ratio of 3.88, a current ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.58 and a 1-year high of $72.70. The company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 688.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $351.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on KTOS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on 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. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JMP Securities set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.64.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.35, for a total value of $136,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 63,357 shares in the company, valued at $4,330,450.95. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $17,898,935.72. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,786 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,682 over the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is owned by company 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.