Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 4.2% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) shares increased by 4.2%, reaching a high of $88.72, following a previous close of $83.12.
• Brokerages such as Stifel Nicolaus and Canaccord Genuity have significantly raised their price targets for KTOS, indicating strong buy ratings and optimistic projections for the stock's future.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a 17.1% revenue increase year-over-year, with earnings per share exceeding analyst expectations, demonstrating solid financial performance.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 4.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $88.72 and last traded at $86.65. 3,503,311 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 3,625,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KTOS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.36.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 4.2%

The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 866.59 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $78.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.79.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $581,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 252,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,422,772.90. This trade represents a 2.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.03, for a total transaction of $460,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 308,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,351,590.07. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 85,716 shares of company stock worth $6,399,245. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,722 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Red Mountain Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.