Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $54.97 and last traded at $54.28, with a volume of 6880202 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KTOS. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.25.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 0.4%

The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 454.80 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.52.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.25 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Eric M. Demarco acquired 7,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.59 per share, with a total value of $250,413.45. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,396,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,899,600.83. The trade was a 0.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total transaction of $515,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 384,492 shares in the company, valued at $13,214,990.04. This trade represents a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,572 shares of company stock worth $5,586,226. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 893 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.