Vident Advisory LLC Purchases 140,332 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC significantly increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 140.6%, purchasing an additional 140,332 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.16% of the company worth $7.13 million.
• Kratos reported $0.11 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue climbing 17.1% year-over-year to reach $351.5 million.
• Insider transactions included the sale of shares by company executives, with insiders selling a total of 72,986 shares valued at about $3.79 million in the last three months.

Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 140.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,150 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 140,332 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC owned 0.16% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $7,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.1% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,888 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 12,449 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,441 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,993 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on KTOS shares. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the 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.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of KTOS traded down $2.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $65.84. 2,393,116 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,725,429. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.83 and a fifty-two week high of $72.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.66 and a 200-day moving average of $41.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 658.47 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 3.88.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.35, for a total value of $136,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 63,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,330,450.95. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.78, for a total transaction of $406,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 a total of 58,419 shares of company stock valued at $3,242,534 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

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.