Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Upgraded by Guggenheim to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) was upgraded by research analysts at Guggenheim to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on KTOS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 0.1%

KTOS stock opened at $47.59 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 279.94 and a beta of 1.11. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a twelve month low of $43.09 and a twelve month high of $134.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.03. The company has a quick ratio of 4.99, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.07% and a net margin of 2.03%.The business’s revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $264,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 285,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,083,654.25. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.33, for a total value of $19,299,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 761,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,995,786.56. This trade represents a 28.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 381,688 shares of company stock valued at $23,935,287. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,423 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.8% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,035 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 115.4% during the fourth quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp now owns 420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology company that develops products and systems for national security, defense and commercial applications. The company primarily serves the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, while also supporting allied governments and selected commercial customers.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and ground systems, target drones, tactical drones, satellite communications systems, space-related products, missile defense technology, hypersonic and high-speed systems, radar and command-and-control solutions, and microwave electronics.