Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.30.

A number of research firms have recently commented on KTOS. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. B. Riley raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock traded down $0.28 on Friday, reaching $33.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,358,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,236,400. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 333.73 and a beta of 1.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 52-week low of $16.71 and a 52-week high of $35.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $275.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $278.47 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 3.68%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.30, for a total transaction of $49,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 61,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,057,340.60. This represents a 2.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $232,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 365,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,118,686.76. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 88,428 shares of company stock worth $2,496,096 over the last quarter. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 665,285 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $15,501,000 after acquiring an additional 86,567 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $448,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,544 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $82,883,000 after buying an additional 29,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 239.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,100 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,363,000 after buying an additional 192,667 shares in 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 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.