Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 6.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.8% on Monday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $48.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions traded as high as $45.77 and last traded at $46.06. 753,402 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 1,792,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.11.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KTOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $33.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Noble Financial raised their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.45, for a total transaction of $206,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,716.85. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 5,786 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total value of $191,574.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $507,642.52. The trade was a 27.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,251,396 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth $30,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the first 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 period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

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 $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 355.11 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.99.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS 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.

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.