Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price Up 1.6% - Should You Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $61.09 and last traded at $59.73. Approximately 1,308,187 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 3,242,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 1.0%

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's 50-day simple moving average is $43.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 455.66 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $515,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 384,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,214,990.04. This trade represents a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $202,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 282,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,514,693.32. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,572 shares of company stock worth $5,586,226 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,685 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,011 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at $252,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.7% during the second quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.6% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 48,910 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,272,000 after buying an additional 4,301 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 31,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently 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.