Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price Up 3.9% - Should You Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) shares were up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $57.21 and last traded at $57.58. Approximately 990,907 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 2,247,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KTOS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $44.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.80. The company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 459.80 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.76, for a total transaction of $1,350,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,328,388.48. This represents a 50.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $247,904.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,586,226. 2.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $488,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth about $41,118,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.2% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,163,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $64,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,585 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $28,944,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 75.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,402,444 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $71,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.