Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 3.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) shares rose 3.3% during trading on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $70.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $61.05 and last traded at $61.09. Approximately 1,791,612 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 2,212,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.12.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Benchmark raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.08.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total transaction of $322,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 360,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,603,478.50. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $247,904.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at $12,033,416.50. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 151,572 shares of company stock worth $5,586,226. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 449.63 and a beta of 1.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.25 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.