Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Short Interest Down 10.9% in March

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a drop of 10.9% from the March 15th total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $124,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 419,821 shares in the company, valued at $7,472,813.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction 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 36,538 shares of company stock worth $672,544 over the last three months. 2.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 120,800.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,777 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 100.9% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 100.0% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KTOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $17.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of -293.78 and a beta of 0.81. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a one year low of $12.12 and a one year high of $21.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.31 and a 200 day moving average of $18.31.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $273.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.