Investors Buy High Volume of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Call Options (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 4,566 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 155% compared to the typical volume of 1,789 call options.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.84. 885,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,308,708. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -297.33 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a twelve month low of $12.12 and a twelve month high of $21.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.43.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.01% and a negative net margin of 0.86%. The business had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $253.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $121,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 352,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,114,794.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $121,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 352,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,114,794.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,295,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,538 shares of company stock valued at $763,479 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 274,512 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,046,000 after acquiring an additional 86,407 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $853,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,800,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 190,604 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Benchmark raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.