Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 3% - Here's Why

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) shares rose 3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $52.61 and last traded at $52.68. Approximately 1,091,475 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 2,120,444 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.25.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 453.04 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.52.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.85% and a net margin of 1.68%. The business 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 posted $0.11 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the business's 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 owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at $12,033,416.50. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco bought 7,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.59 per share, for a total transaction of $250,413.45. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,396,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,899,600.83. This represents a 0.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,586,226. Corporate insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,284 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,729 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 11,708 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,267 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 7,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

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.