Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 280,968 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.4%, selling 280,968 shares and owning approximately 1.42% of the company valued at $64.7 million.
• Several significant investors, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC and Stifel Financial Corp, have made recent adjustments to their positions in Kratos, with institutional investors owning 75.92% of the stock.
• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions reported earnings of $0.12 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations, with revenue growth of 9.2% year-over-year.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 11.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,178,673 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 280,968 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 1.42% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $64,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $28,944,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9,709.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,578 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $29,618,000 after purchasing an additional 987,408 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 934,455 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 767,345 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $114,510,000 after buying an additional 307,907 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total value of $308,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 270,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,888,747.68. This trade represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total transaction of $409,710.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 353,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,687,487.03. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 145,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,644,656. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ KTOS traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.93. The company had a trading volume of 3,430,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,013,052. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.29. The company has a market capitalization of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 453.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.91 and a twelve month high of $62.80.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.08.

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.