Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: 22 analysts give Kratos an average rating of "Moderate Buy" (16 buys, 5 holds, 1 strong buy) with a 1‑year target of about $98.28, and several firms recently raised price targets (Goldman to $125, Truist to $135, BTIG to $115).
• Insider selling: Company insiders sold 167,027 shares worth ~$13.96M over the past three months, including Director William Hoglund (30,500 shares at $71.19) and VP Maria De Burgreen (6,270 shares at $89.29), leaving insiders with 1.5% ownership.
• Financials and ownership: Kratos recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue (EPS $0.18 vs $0.14 est.; revenue $345.1M, up 21.9% YoY), while institutional investors own ~75.9% of the stock; the shares trade at a high P/E (~486) and market cap of ~$11.8B.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.2778.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KTOS shares. JonesTrading started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Truist Financial set a $135.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $93.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total transaction of $2,171,295.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 252,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,975,475. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 6,270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.29, for a total value of $559,848.30. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 59,369 shares in the company, valued at $5,301,058.01. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 167,027 shares of company stock worth $13,961,290. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $337,565,000 after purchasing an additional 148,622 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $280,402,000 after purchasing an additional 698,778 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $278,331,000 after purchasing an additional 209,189 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $247,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 3.1%

KTOS stock opened at $63.16 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $80.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.72. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $32.68 and a 1-year high of $134.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 485.88 and a beta of 1.22.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.63%.The business had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $327.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc NASDAQ: KTOS is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.