Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading 12.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 12.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $52.47 and last traded at $52.15. 4,403,805 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 113% from the average session volume of 2,063,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on KTOS. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Noble Financial lifted their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.25.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.59. 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 $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 399.38 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The company 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%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $247,904.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,033,416.50. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.76, for a total transaction of $1,350,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,328,388.48. This trade represents a 50.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 149,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,373,706 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $488,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,179 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $114,510,000 after purchasing an additional 307,907 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,245 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,116,164 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $82,204,000 after purchasing an additional 317,305 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 25.5% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,609,621 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $77,480,000 after purchasing an additional 530,599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.

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