WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Buys 18,823 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 107.8% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 18,823 shares for a total of 36,282 shares valued at approximately $1.08 million.
• Several large institutional investors also boosted their stakes, with Vanguard Group Inc. increasing their holding by 11.7% and Principal Financial Group Inc. enhancing their position by a staggering 9,709%.
• Kratos reported a quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue rose by 9.2% year-over-year to $302.60 million, surpassing projections of $292.25 million.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 107.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,282 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,823 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KTOS. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS traded up $4.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.88. 7,216,736 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,034,349. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.79 and a 200-day moving average of $37.68. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $19.36 and a one year high of $66.13. The firm has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 638.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.26.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.44% and a net margin of 1.20%. The firm had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $247,904.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at $12,033,416.50. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total value of $308,520.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 270,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,888,747.68. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 145,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,644,656. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.