Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $34.83 and last traded at $35.10, with a volume of 686639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTOS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. B. Riley upgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 345.73 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.57.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $275.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 273,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,288,307.76. This represents a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $168,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 356,414 shares in the company, valued at $8,557,500.14. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 98,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,661,646. Insiders own 2.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 665,285 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $15,501,000 after buying an additional 86,567 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $448,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,544 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $82,883,000 after acquiring an additional 29,278 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 239.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,100 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,363,000 after purchasing an additional 192,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth about $1,220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc 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.

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