Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Coverage Initiated at KeyCorp

Investment analysts at KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

KTOS has been the topic of several other reports. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. B. Riley cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.53.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $75.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 3.68. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1 year low of $23.90 and a 1 year high of $112.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a PE ratio of 579.97 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 1.56%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.09, for a total transaction of $14,818,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,196,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,629,199.33. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 30,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $2,222,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,952.80. This represents a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 472,711 shares of company stock valued at $35,730,005. Corporate insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.8% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 98,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after acquiring an additional 13,345 shares during the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.2% during the first quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 77,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,860 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% during the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $209,382,000 after purchasing an additional 818,104 shares in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 22,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Wealth Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.